Pebbles and Bammer
by Pebbles22
Summary: From the time they were born they were like Jack and Jill. They were two halves of the same whole, two souls united in a platonic, comfortable, and easy friendship designed to survive the elements. But every now and then there's a bigger plan in motion...
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

_He watched as she eagerly ran over to the swing set. He hadn't been there in a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he swung high in the air, touching the clouds, feeling the wind pass through his hair, feeling weightless. He stood by as she started in a standing position, leaning against the seat. _

"_It's the best way to start," she explained, noticing his look. "Instead of pumping your legs in the normal start position. All you do is…" she ran forward and at the arc of the swing jumped back and landed on the plastic seat, easily gliding backwards, before leaning back and sticking her legs out, gaining more momentum. The smile on her face rivaled the intensity of the sun and that brought a smile to __his__ face._

"_Why do you like the swings so much?" he asked, leaning against one of the metals poles that held the structure in place._

"_I'm free," she stated simply. "You don't have to put much energy or thought into it. You just get on…and go."_

_The smile never left his face as he watched her swing back and forth. The creaking of the chains broke the otherwise still and peaceful afternoon. He sat down on the ground and pulled blades of grass out of the ground, sighing every now and then._

_The sound of shifting dirt grabbed his attention. He looked up to see that she had dug her heels into the ground, staring hard at him; her crystal blue eyes were hard. "What?"He asked, his ocean blue eyes shifting a bit as he licked his lips._

"_What're you hiding from me?" She demanded._

_He forced a laugh. "Hiding? I'm not hiding anything from you."_

_She pulled a face and he could tell that she wasn't buying it. "C'mon, Pebbles. There something on that hard-as-a-rock mind of yours so don't even try to tell me that nothing's bothering you." He didn't say anything, just looked down at the blades of grass that was in his hands._

_Grumbling under her breath she jumped off of the swing and walked over to where he was, standing over him, hands on her hips, casting a shadow on him. "Pebbles," she said softly this time._

_He looked up and saw tears welling in the corners of her eyes. He brushed dirt off of his knees, stood, and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into his chest and he pressed his nose against her vanilla-scented hair._

"_Don't cry, Bammers," he muttered._

"_Something's going on that you're not telling me!" She replied, pushing him away and punching him on the arm. He cried out in pain and grabbed the red area as she smiled a bit. "You don't call me Bammers for nothin', DeSantos. Now out with it. What aren't you telling me? Why did you bring me here?"_

"_I wanted you to have fun," he replied rubbing his arm._

"_We don't even come back here unless you want to give me bad news," she replied. "There was the time when you told me you'd be at Karate Kamp all summer. The time when you told me your dad was in the hospital. Oh, and the time when you told me I couldn't go with you on your family vacation because your mom hates me."_

"Hated_ you," he quickly interrupted. "She loves you now. She says you're like the daughter she's never had." He smiled, hoping it would get her to smile too but the stony look on her face never budged. "Ok, Bammers, look," he sighed. "You know how my dad's been having trouble finding a job?"_

_Her mouth fell open. "Oh no. You guys aren't, well, poor are you?"_

"_No, that's not it." He shook his head. "He actually got a job. A good paying job. A _very_ good paying job."_

"_But…?" she prompted._

"_But…it's not here…in Emerald Cove. It's…it's in Stone Canyon, California."_

_She blinked and backed away from him. "C-California?" Her voice was shaky. "T-That's across the country, Pebbles."_

"_I know, Bammers, I know. But it's a very good opportunity for my dad. He really wants this; he wants to be able to provide for us like he did before." He hung his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. "And…I kinda wanna go too," he added sheepishly._

"_What?" She whispered. "Pebbles, no!"_

"_There's nothing for me to do here," he said as he lifted his head, locking eyes with her. "Not when I grow up. I don't want to be a surfer like the others. I want to be a karate instructor or something. I want to teach people, change their lives, and I can't do it here."_

"_What about…me?" she asked then shook her head. "What about us? Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm? What'll happen?"_

_He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I'll write every day, I promise. I want to know how you're doing. No matter what happens we'll always be best friends, ok?"She nodded and he moved to give her a hug but she pulled out of his grasp. "Bammers-" She slowly shook her head, backing away from him, finally turning and running away from him. "Bammers!" He called after her but she didn't stop running._

_He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, brushing the single tear that rolled down his cheek in the process._

_

* * *

_

**A/N: I've been a Power Rangers fan since I was very young. I still watch the movies and I still watch the show. However, I really dislike the neweer versions and I will always be a Might Morphin' fan. After watching the first movie a few times I got inspiration and this story came out of it. It's my first power rangers story ever and I hope you all like it.** **Please read and review.**_  
_


	2. Homecoming Part I

**Title**: Pebbles and Bammer

**Season**: MMPR before the movie (movie might be included)

**Rated**: PG-13 and might go up.

**Warning**: OFC, slight AU

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the series. I only own the idea of this story.

**_Chapter 1:_**

_ Homecoming Part 1

* * *

_

Rocky DeSantos sighed as he stared hard at the math book in front of him. It might as well have been written in Hebrew, he still didn't understand what he was trying to do. He groaned and looked around the bustling space of Ernie's Juice Bar, a popular hangout for the teens of Angel Grove, California. A little _too_ popular. He couldn't think with all of the noise but he knew he couldn't go home either. His sister's made more noise at home that rivaled the level of noise at the juice bar.

The seventeen-year-old grumbled as he tapped a pencil on his notebook rapidly, dull thunks coming out as a beat as he struggled to come up with the answer. He didn't get it, Probability and Statistics was never a hard class for him before, why couldn't he stay focused now?

"Hey Rocky!" Kimberly Hart greeted him with a bright smile as she sat down at the table with him. "What's up?" She looked down at the book that was in front of him. "Prob and Stats, huh?"

"Yeah, I've been really struggling lately," Rocky replied, dropping his pencil and pushing his hair out of his face. "Mrs. Henderson says that I'm on the border of a D." he sighed. "Dad's gonna flip out."

"You're just going through a dry spell," Kim said as she patted his shoulder. "You're great at math; it'll come back to you soon."

"Why can't it come back to me now?"

She smiled sympathetically and turned to her own books that she had put on the table. She knew what he was going through. History was getting tougher for her but she didn't believe that it was the school load that was getting to her; she believed that it was the responsibilities of being a ranger that was making them fall behind.

She never believed that being a ranger would interfere with her social life or her school career but there were many times that she found herself staying up late cramming or rushing to do homework because their ranger battles lasted longer than she had expected. Many times she had to turn down going to the movies or going to the mall with her gymnastics friends to battle a monster that had shown up at the wrong time or because she was simply too tired.

She didn't know how she was going to get through her junior or senior year. Graduation was looming in the distance, she still had to worry about college applications, finding the balance between her teenage life and her ranger life, and, more importantly, find a date to Senior/Junior Homecoming.

She knew she wanted to ask Tommy. Heck, the others have been pressuring her into it as well. However, she didn't want to be the one to ask him. She wanted him to ask her. Every time he talked to her, her heart would start pacing and she would bite her lips to keep the smile off of her face as she waited to hear the words tumble from his mouth.

Unfortunately he didn't get her hints and still hasn't asked her to the dance yet. The dance was in two weeks and she was running out of time. She was standing her ground, holding firm on the belief that he would ask her. And if he didn't (not that she was thinking about that possibility) there were some guys on her gymnastics team she knew she could go with.

"Strawberry-Kiwi smoothie and a Strawberry-Banana," Ernie announced as he put the pink drinks down on the table in front of the two teenagers.

"Thanks Ernie," Rocky said happily as he reached for his strawberry-kiwi drink. He took a sip and smiled. "Your best flavor yet."

"Thanks man," Ernie said with a smile. "I figured you needed a little break. You've been here for a while."

"You got that right, man. And thanks again." Rocky took another long sip and smiled in satisfaction. "So Kim, did Tommy ask you to the dance yet?" He asked as soon as Ernie got out of earshot.

Kim put her pencil in the history book to mark her page, sighed, and shook her head. "I don't get why he won't ask me." She sighed, lifting the bangs off of her forehead. "Homecoming is only two weeks away. That's pushing how much time I have to get my hair done and my nails done, find the perfect makeup, find the perfect shoes, and the perfect dress."

"So just ask _him_," Rocky suggested.

"I can't ask him," she replied.

"We're living in a new generation, Kim; it's perfectly acceptable to ask him to the dance." He shrugged. "Heck, I'd think it would be pretty cool if a girl asked me to Homecoming. It takes guts to ask and this way girls know how we're feeling."

Kim then grinned. "Is there someone _you_ want to ask, Rockers?" She asked, turning the tables on him. "How about Aisha? You guys are pretty close."

Rocky smiled but shook his head. "I couldn't ask her. We're too close of friends. She's more like my sister; I've known her since I was twelve." He looked up and nodded a bit in a random direction. "Besides, it looks like Adam's going to ask her."

Kim turned around to try and find Aisha Campbell and Adam Park. Her eyes finally rested on them. They were playing a partner video game, laughing and smiling. A smile formed on Kim's face as she turned back around. "Yeah, they're really cute together." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, I didn't tell you! Guess who's coming back for the rest of the school year?"

Rocky tapped his chin as he thought. "Ummm..." he then gave up and shrugged. "I don't really know anyone who's left, Kim. I'm still pretty new here."

Kim waved her hand, dismissing what he said. "Jason, Trini, and Zack are coming back from their Peace Conference and they're going to be here for the rest of their junior year! And next year too! They get to graduate with us!"

Rocky's eyes lit up as well. "No kidding?" Kim shook her head. "Shoot, Kim, that's awesome! Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"No, and you can't either," she replied. "Trini sent me a letter a few days ago telling me about the news but they wanted me to keep it a secret. I was too excited to hold it in so I had to tell you. Like I said you can't tell anyone else!"

Rocky nodded and made a zipping-his-lips motion just as Tommy Oliver and Billy Cranston appeared and took seats at the table. "What's going on, guys? No sparring today?"

"Nah, we wanted to get some studying in for the huge History Test we have tomorrow," Tommy replied, leaning over to open up Kim's history book. "We can save sparring for when Rita sends some Putties to attack." He chuckled a bit at his own joke. He looked up and noticed an odd smile on Rocky's face. "What's goin' on, man?"

"Uh, nothin', just thinking about something," Rocky replied, turning his attention back to his math homework.

Tommy smiled a bit. "You got a date to Homecoming?"

Rocky shook his head. "Nah, there's no one I want to ask." He shrugged. "I kinda know everyone now. I want to go with someone new."

"You're being kinda picky there, Rock," Kim pointed out. "There's no one new at our school."

"Actually, we're supposed to be getting a new student tomorrow," Billy spoke up. "They're coming from a school called Belleview High, actually."

Rocky frowned slightly. "That's the first I'm hearing about this." His face scrunched up a bit as he thought.

"Maybe the teachers wanted to keep it a secret," Tommy suggested.

"Maybe." He looked at his watch and sighed. "I gotta get home before my dad blows a blood vessel. Catch you later." He quickly gathered his things and gave them a small wave

"Bye Rocky," Billy, Tommy, and Kim said in unison as Adam and Aisha joined them at the table.

"Where's he going in a hurry?" Aisha asked.

"He said he has to rush home before his dad gets mad," Tommy replied. "He seems to say that a lot," he observed. "Is his dad really that strict?"

"Calling Mr. DeSantos strict is like calling Rita Repulsa beautiful," Adam said with a snort. "Mr. DeSantos is overbearing. He doesn't go for less than perfect. That's why Rocky works so hard to get good grades. It's why he's been studying a lot lately. Have you heard about his Math grade?"

"Yeah, he said that he's getting a D."

"Has his dad found out?" Tommy asked in concern.

"Not yet, he's still living after all," Aisha replied. "We've offered to help him study but he says he wants to do it on his own to prove to himself that he can do it."

"Ok, we'll just stick around and let him know that we're here for him," Tommy sighed. The others nodded in agreement.

Kim waved goodbye to her friends and rushed to her pink corvette. She threw her books and her bag into the passenger seat, jumped in, and peeled out of the parking lot of Ernie's, racing towards her home. Her smile got bigger as she got closer and closer to her house. Excitement welled up inside of her when she turned into her gated community and parked in her driveway. She jumped out, briefly looking at the red jeep, ran up the porch, and threw open the front door.

"Trini! Zack! Jase!" She shouted, her voice echoing in the spacious house.

"Kim!" Zack Taylor shouted, sliding down the banister of the stairs, ran over to her, and pulled her into a tight hug. "It's so good to see you again, kiddo!"

"Hey!" Kim punched Zack's shoulder and pouted. "I'm not _that_ much younger than you, Taylor!"

"No, but you're still a shrimp," he replied, placing his hand flat on her head and laughed a bit. Then he glanced at the area where Kim hit him and added, "And your punches are still weak."

"Tell that to the Putties then!" She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"C'mon, Kim, you know he doesn't mean it," Trini said, walking up behind the African-American, smiling.

"Trini! Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you!" Kim exclaimed as she pulled her best friend into a hug. "Did you do something to your hair?" She asked, taking a step back.

"Mhm, I cut it," Trini said as she absent mindedly ran her fingers through her raven hair, which was now shoulder length. "Is it bad?" She asked.

"No! It's cute, very cute," Kim replied. "You came back at the right time. They have the cutest sandals on sale and they're forty percent off! We can go shopping together again!" Trini smiled genuinely and her attention shifted to the other boy who had come up behind the two, a small smile was on his face. "Jase!" Kim squealed happily, jumping onto him in a hug. He laughed and squeezed her tight, wrapping his arms around her waist to keep her off of the ground. "Oh, I can't believe you guys are back."

"You got Trini's letter, didn't you?" He asked, setting her down.

"Yes, I just can't believe you're back for the rest of junior year. It'll be just like old times!" she said as she clasped her hands together. "Just with a few more friends."

"_Will_ it be like old times?" Zack asked.

Kim's smile faded at the tone of his voice. "What do you mean, Zack?"

"What he wants to know is if things will really be back to normal," Jason spoke up. "I mean, how normal can things be with you guys rushing off to fight Goldar and Zedd and Rita while we're stuck here watching on the sidelines?"

Kim struggled to find something to say but she sighed in defeat. Jason was right, what did it mean that they came back? Could Trini, Zack, and Jason get their powers back? And what about Rocky, Adam, and Aisha?

Rocky stared hard at the math test that he gripped in his hands. In bright red ink a C- was staring back at him. The page was filled with red marks and question marks. He groaned and grabbed his head. _'Dad is going to kill me. If only Zedd or Rita would send a monster down right now.'_ He looked around, expecting a swarm of Putties to suddenly show up but to no avail. _'The one time they don't want to try and destroy the Earth.'_

He crumpled the paper into a ball and shoved it into the deepest pocket of his backpack. He lifted his head and looked across the street trying to find something to do to stall his impending doom. His eyes rested on the dance studio across the street. The music was so loud he could hear a steady beat pouring out of the slightly opened windows.

After looking both ways he ran across the street and opened the door to the studio. He slid inside and watched the little dancers as they moved to the beat. Their dance moves were graceful, fluid, and effortless. They all had small smiles on their faces as they moved through the song, pulling off each dance move.

"Wow," he whispered. The girls couldn't be older than eight, nine maybe, and yet they were dancing like they were Madonna or something. They didn't notice him, or if they did they didn't react to his appearance. At the front of the room a girl was dancing along with the rest of the young ones. She couldn't be any older than sixteen. Her jet black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was swinging in time with the music as she moved. She called out the eight counts and the next step in the sequence, her body moving as if water coursed through her.

Finally they all slammed to a stop and held their poses, staring at their reflections in the mirrors, the only sound in the room was panting. "Great job, girls," the elder girl at the front said with a big smile as she turned around, her crystal blue eyes shining. "That was amazing. You'll definitely be ready for the showcase in a week. Come in tomorrow and we'll freestyle it up, we'll have fun with practice the rest of the week, ok?"

"Ok!" the younger girls chorused before moving around to grab their things. "Bye Miss Melody," they called over their shoulders as they rushed out the door until Rocky was left standing by the doorway.

"Hey." Rocky jumped at the sudden harsh voice that split through the air. "This is a closed practice. The Open practice is every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday."

"Oh, uh, sorry," Rocky stuttered before backing out the door rapidly. He sighed as a light breeze brushed his hair off of his forehead. "No sense in delaying my death," he muttered, turning to walk towards home.


	3. Homecoming Part II

**_Chapter 2:_**

_ Homecoming Part 2

* * *

_

It was hard for Kim to keep her secret. She kept convincing herself that telling Rocky was a good idea, that way she didn't have a lot of pressure wouldn't get to her and she wouldn't spill the secret by mistake. Anyway, it was nice to finally be able to talk to Trini without being interrupted by the guys or by Putties. Things have been quiet a lot recently and Kim decided to take advantage of it, but that doesn't mean she's letting her guard down.

"I'm so glad you're back," Kim said for probably the hundredth time as she moved the mountain of pillows from the head of her bed to the foot of it so she could climb in.

"Do you want me to pinch you?" Trini joked setting up her sleeping bag on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't want my bed? I'll take the floor," Kim offered.

"I don't want to put you out in your own home, I'm fine." Trini smiled. "Besides. I'm sure we're not going to go to sleep for a while," she added sitting on the foot of the bed. Kim laughed and sat at the head of the bed, turning so they were looking at each other. "So, how're the new rangers doing?"

"Oh, they're awesome Trini," Kim replied. "Aisha is a lot of fun to be around. She doesn't beat around the bush, she always says things as it is and she's very loyal and very strong. Actually, she reminds me of you, only a bit girlier 'cause she loves to shop." Trini laughed. "Adam is the strong-silent type. He knows when to joke around but he knows when to be serious too. He's come up with a lot of good ideas to get us out of some trouble." Kim grabbed a brush from her bedside dresser and started to brush her hair. "And Rocky? He's a trip. He has a big appetite for life and for food. He jumps right into anything and he loves learning about new things. His energy is a great addition to the team." She paused. "Not that I don't miss you guys," she added sheepishly.

"I understand, Kimberly," Trini said with a small laugh. "So you've all become really good friends then?"

She nodded. "Great friends. I'm sure you'll love them as well."

"I'm sure we will," Trini agreed. "But what's really on your mind?" She asked. Kim opened her mouth to say something but Trini held up her hand. "We've been friends how long? I can tell when something is on your mind. What's wrong?"

"Well, Homecoming is coming up soon, two weeks," Kim replied slowly. "And, well, I was hoping that Tommy would ask me but he hasn't yet and I don't think he will."

"What makes you think that?"

"Every chance he's gotten he hasn't asked me. And I'm sure I've made it clear that I want him to."

"Why don't you ask _him_?" Trini questioned.

"It's…I just…a guy's supposed to ask a girl to a dance," Kim replied.

"Now, you know that's not true. Girls ask guys to dances all of the time. If girls waited around for boys to ask them a good percentage of them would be waiting for a long time. Besides, Tommy's your friend, right? It's not like he'd laugh at you."

"I know," Kim sighed. "I just get so nervous when I try."

"Well, maybe that's how he feels."

Kim shrugged before her eyes lit up. "Hey, you guys came back just in time. You can go to the dance too. And you can help me decorate. I'm on the committee. So's Rocky."

"That sounds like a lot of fun."

"Now, all we have to do is find you a date." Kim tapped her chin.

"Oh, Kimberly, I don't think–"

"I know!" Kim snapped her fingers. A big grin crossed her features. "Why don't you ask Jason?"

Trini's eyebrows crinkled together in confusion. "Jason?" She repeated.

"Yeah," Kim replied. "I see the way you two look at each other and it's been expected for _years_ that you two would get together."

"Me and Jason?"

"Yes!" Kim insisted. "Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

"Because it's…Jason," she finally got out. "Not that I don't love him but he's…he's like a brother to me."

Kim slowly shook her head, tsk-ing. "Trini, Trini, Trini. You can't lie to me. I can tell when you're lying and you're lying right now. You like Jason, you like him _a lot_."

"So? You like Tommy."

"And I've admitted it."

"To his face?"

Kim remained silent as Trini smirked.

"I see you're alive," Adam commented when Rocky walked into school the next morning. Rocky didn't crack a smile. "Ooh, what'd your dad do?"

"Let's just say I'm not allowed to go anywhere between my house, school, and the Youth Center," Rocky replied, spinning the dial on his lock and pulling it off when he heard a click. "The good thing is he's still letting me go to the dance because it's at the Youth Center. Otherwise I'm grounded until further notice."

"Sorry, man," Adam muttered.

Rocky shrugged. "Could've been worse." He grabbed his books and closed his locker.

"Wait, why is he restricting you to school, your home, and the Youth Center? That's where you always go, it's not like it's a punishment," Adam commented as the two started walking down the hall to get to their homeroom class.

"Well, I was kinda late," Rocky replied slowly. "I was taking a walk through the park and then I went into town. I was on my way home when I got distracted."

"By Putties?" he asked, lowering his voice and looking around.

"No, not by Putties." Rocky shook his head. "I was, um, watching these girls dance. You know the dance studio in town? They caught my attention and I was just watching them for a bit and when I finally got home it was past eight and my dad was freaking out so he grounded me."

"For watching girls dance? What a way to get grounded though, bud," Adam said as he nudged Rocky's shoulder and the two turned into their homeroom class.

"Hey Aisha," they greeted her in unison.

"Hey guys," Aisha greeted them with a big smile. "Did Kim call you? She said she has a surprise for us."

"Yeah, she called this morning. I tried to think of what it was but I can't come up with anything," Adam replied. "What about you, Rocky?"

"Uhhh." Rocky wracked his brain to try and come up with an excuse. It was hard for him to keep the secret himself, especially since he was itching to talk to Jason about how he dealt with his ranger responsibilities as well as his school responsibilities. "Maybe she's…throwing us a party as a way to appreciate us coming in and helping them out," he suggested lamely. Aisha and Adam stared at him and he shifted his gaze to the front of the classroom as Ms. Appleby bustled in, a big smile was on her face. Billy, Tommy, and Kim slipped in through the door and grabbed their seats.

"Class I have wonderful news!" Ms. Appleby gushed, standing at the front of the room. "We have three students joining us for the rest of junior year. Now, they aren't new students, they actually went off to Switzerland for a Peace Conference halfway through last year. Please welcome back Zack, Trini, and Jason."

Bulk's and Skull's mouths fell open when the three came back into the room. Whispers broke out amongst the class as the trio moved to find empty seats in the room. "What're you geeks doing back here?" Bulk demanded.

"Yeah, what're you geeks doing back here?" Skull repeated, loudly chewing and slurping his gum.

"There have been a change of plans," Jason replied simply, smiling a bit at Bulk who was grumbling in his seat. "Don't worry, Bulk, we'll be spending a lot of time together to make up for the time I was gone."

Bulk slumped in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Those geeks think they can walk in here and think they can run the school again? I don't think so!"

"So, what's the plan, Bulkie?" Skull asked.

"I'll tell you once I think of one!" Bulk snarled through clenched teeth. "There is no way they're going to humiliate me again. Not if I have anything to do with it!"

"Farkus Bulkmeier! Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Ms. Appleby demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as a thunderous look flashed across her features.

Zack snorted and quickly covered it up by turning it into a cough. Next to him Rocky lightly nudged his shoulder, grinning, and held out his fist. Zack fist bumped him and the two turned their attention back to the front of the room.

"No Ms. Appleby," Bulk muttered.

"Good." She looked at him for a couple more seconds before turning back to address the class. "Now, as I said, although Jason, Trini, and Zack have returned they are not new students. However we _do_, in fact, have a new student joining us today." She rushed to the door and pulled it open ushering the person in the hall to come inside the class room.

All eyes turned to the girl at the door who slowly walked in, keeping her grip on her backpack straps. Her blue eyes were glued on the floor; her head was tilted so her black hair covered most of her face. "Class, this is Melody Williams. She transferred here from Belleview High School from Belleview, Florida." She turned to Melody. "Would you like to say anything to the class?"

Melody finally lifted her head and glanced around the room. Rocky's breath got caught in his throat when her eyes rested on him briefly. _'Melody. Is that…is she…?'_ She finally shook her head and looked over at Ms. Appleby.

"Ok, you can take a seat by Jason," Ms. Appleby said as she pointed. She waited for Melody to take her seat before continuing "Melody is a sophomore. However, the other sophomore homerooms are full so she's going to be in your homeroom for the time being."

Melody scrunched down in her seat. She could feel eyes directed towards her. The only thing she wanted to do was go back home to Florida. But no, her dad had to get a job transfer and send here to Destruction Capital, USA. Didn't he notice that all these crazy monsters seem to pop up in Angel Grove every single day?

Ms. Appleby went on and on about how their junior year was their most important year at the school and they shouldn't slack off, even after they've been accepted into colleges. Melody tuned it all out; after all it didn't pertain to her. She just started doodling on a blank piece of paper still wondering why her father moved them there. Sure there were monsters attacking every day and they were taken down by the Power Rangers every day, but why did he put her in the epicenter? Why not take her someplace normal…like Los Angeles?

She was jerked back into reality when the bell rang. She slammed her notebook shut, grabbed her backpack, jumped out of her seat, and raced out of the door. Kim watched her run out with her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Huh, wonder where she's going so fast," she muttered. "I was going to offer to shower her around, so she won't feel alone."

"Why don't we go find her, Kimberly?" Rocky suggested, staring out the doorway. "Guys, can you tell the teacher where we are? I don't want to be marked tardy."

"Sure, Rocko, see you in a few," Tommy said as he clapped Rocky's shoulder.

"Thanks guys." Kim flashed them a smile before nudging Rocky and the two moved into the halls that were now swarmed with people rushing to get to their next class. Their friends walked the opposite way down the hall, Tommy and Jason talking about getting together after school to spar faded with the other voices of the students.

Rocky craned his neck as he tried to look over the heads of the other students. _'It had to be her. It just had to be. But why's she here?'_ He finally spotted her struggling with the lock on her locker door. He nudged Kim and the two move in her direction.

"Hi," Kim greeted her cheerfully. Melody paused and looked at the two. "I'm Kimberly and this is Rocky," she said as she pointed to herself than to Rocky who nodded. "We just wanted to welcome you to Angel Grove."

"Thanks," she muttered then turned back to her locker. She made a face when she pulled the handle but it didn't open.

"Oh, these lockers are pretty tricky," Rocky spoke up. "You just have to…" he slammed his fists against the locker, near the lining of it. He then motioned for her to try the combination again. She lined it up and pulled on the handle, surprised when the door swung open.

"Hey, a bunch of us are getting together at the Youth Center after school. Do you want to come?" Kim asked. "Nothing major, we're just going to study and hang out."

"I have dance class," Melody replied.

"Afterwards then?"

Melody sighed. _'The girl's not going to leave me alone is she?'_ "Sure. I'll meet you there around...four?"

"Sounds great!" Kim beamed before turning to Rocky. "We should get going."

"Uh, go without me. I want to make sure she gets to her class ok," Rocky replied, smiling a bit. Kim smiled in return, gave Melody a little wave, and rushed off.

"So you're willing to help me out yet you haven't talked to me in years. What a great friend _you_ are, _Pebbles_," Melody commented sarcastically as she shoved a few books into her locker along with her backpack before closing it.

"I knew it was you," he commented, ignoring her sarcasm. "At the dance studio. Why didn't you say anything? How come you didn't talk to me or tell me that you moved here or were coming here?"

"What's the point in trying to talk to someone who's forgotten about me for years?" Melody asked coldly, finally looking at him. He took a step back seeing how hard her blue eyes were.

"I didn't forget about you."

"Oh yeah? Then how come you backed out of your promise? I've only gotten like, what, seven letters from you over the years? Yeah, _that's_ not breaking your promise!"

"I didn't–" The bell rang cutting off him off in mid sentence. "Look, can we talk later? At the Youth Center?" He asked, looking around as if finding a way to escape.

"Don't count on it," she replied. "You had your chance and you blew it."

Rocky watched, in defeat, as she walked down the hall to get to her class. He sighed, turned, and rushed to get to his class.

"So the old rangers have returned and the new Red Ranger is having a little trouble with his little friend," Rita noted, looking through her telescope and cackling evilly. "This is perfect!"

"What are you blabbering about now?" Zedd demanded, rubbing his temples.

"How to get rid of the Power Rangers!" Rita replied, screeching.

"What makes you think that you can beat the Power Rangers if every idea you've had before failed?" Zedd questioned.

"Don't pretend that your monsters even did anything to the Power Rangers either!" Rita yelled. "Finster!" She screeched. Finster bustled into the large, smoke filled room.

"What is it, your highness?" He asked.

"Get your monster molds ready. I think I have something that will finally destroy the Power Rangers!"

"Don't listen to her, you fool," Zedd spoke up. "She doesn't have an idea, at least not a _good_ one."

"Zip it, mush for brains!"

"Make me, you overbearing harpy!"

"Ooh, I'm getting such a headache."


	4. Homecoming Part III

**_Chapter 3:_**

_ Homecoming Part 3

* * *

_

Aisha looked up as Rocky entered the math class room a little bit late. The teacher simply nodded at him, signaling that he was safe from being tardy, and looked back at the board where he was writing down a warm-up math problem they should solve. Aisha watched Rocky in concern as he dropped down in his seat; a mopey expression was on his face.

**_What's wrong with Rocky? _**Aisha scribbled on a piece of paper and lightly tapped Adam's shoulder, who was sitting in front of her.

Adam reached back and took the piece of paper, read her note, and scribbled something back.

**Beats me. He's been acting funny since he got to school today. I know he got into a little fight with his dad and he's grounded.**

**_When'd that happen?_**

**Last night. His grades in math have been dropping and then he showed up at his house late.**

**_He's usually really punctual. I wonder what's going on. Is that the only thing he said to you? The math thing, I mean?_**

**Yeah, that's it. I couldn't get anything out of him. BTW, didn't you think it was weird the way he reacted to that Melody girl? Once he saw her he looked as if he'd seen a ghost.**

**_I was thinking the same thing. _**

**Old classmate maybe?**

**_But why would he act this way? It's like he's…scared if her or something._**

**I guess we're going to have to wait until for him to come to us and tell us whatever is on his mind.**

Aisha sighed and leaned back in her chair, glancing at Rocky every now and then. He was leaning over his desk, resting his chin on his arms. A distant look was in his eyes, he wsan't focusing on anything in the room.

Aisha bit her lip. What was going on with him? They were best friends, weren't they? They knew each other since they were twelve, that's six years and six years to her was a long time. Why didn't Rocky trust them?

As soon as the bell rang signaling them to get to the next class Rocky jumped out of his seat and rushed to the door but Aisha beat him there. "Where's the fire, Rocks?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

"I, uh, I wanted to catch up to Melody," Rocky replied.

"Oh. Why?"

"To, um, make sure Bulk and Skull leave her alone. You know how they are with new students," Rocky replied, walking out of the room, Aisha was on his heels.

"You're kinda late." Rocky looked back at her in confusion and she nodded. He turned around and saw down the hall to see what Aisha was looking at. He groaned when he saw Bulk and Skull were circling her like they were sharks and she was an innocent little fish. "C'mon, we should help her," Aisha decided, moving forward.

Rocky followed Aisha, keeping his eyes on Bulk and Skull as they moved through the crowded hallway. His free hand clenched into a fist as a muscle in his jaw ticked. Why couldn't Bulk and Skull just leave everyone alone?

"So? Hows about it, sweetie?" Skull asked, chewing his gum. "You, me, and a starry night?"

"I would but, luckily, I have something _better_ to do," Melody replied. "Could you move, I'm going to be late for class."

"Hmm, how about…no?" Bulk laughed and shoved her, causing her to take a couple of steps back to keep her balance but she dropped her books to the floor.

"Stop it," she snapped. Bulk just laughed and shoved her again. "Quit it." Bulk reached out to shove her once more but a hand grabbed his wrist.

"I believe the lady said to knock it off," Jason said in a dangerously calm voice as he tightened his grip on Bulk's wrist.

Bulk pulled his hand out of Jason's grasp and laughed a bit. "And what're you going to do about it?"

"Why don't you just crawl back into the sewer that you came out of?" Aisha asked, ducking under Skull's arm.

"Mind your own business, geek," Bulk said as he used a finger to push Aisha out of the way.

"Hey, back off man!" Rocky snapped. He glanced around briefly and noticed that a group of students had stopped to see what was about to happen. He glanced at Melody and locked eyes with her but her face remained void of emotion.

"I can handle this, Rocky," Jason said as he lightly pushed Rocky out of the way.

Bulk turned his attention back to Jason. "What're you gonna do, tough guy?"

Jason merely smiled a little, lifted his hand, and moved his finger in a come hither motion. Bulk and Skull exchanged glances of confusion.

"Skullsy poo!"

"Bulky Boo!"

Their faces got a look of shock and horror as Jason, Rocky, and Aisha chuckled. The two other 'punk' girls of the school—Rogue and Pixie—entered the hallway and looked around for a bit before their eyes landed on Bulk and Skull and they grinned. Bulk and Skull let out sounds of fright before turning and running down the hallway. Rogue and Pixie chased after them as the other students laughed and went on with their way.

Jason watched them leaving before helping Melody and Aisha pick up the dropped books. "Don't worry about them. They act tough but they can't really do anything. They're too slow and ignorant," Jason told Melody, holding out her books.

"Well they don't strike me as geniuses," Melody commented causing him and Aisha to laugh. Rocky barely cracked a smile.

"I'm Jason. That's Aisha and–"

"I've all ready met Rocky," she interrupted.

Jason just nodded. "I don't like the idea of you going to your class by yourself with them around. Is it all right if I go with you? Just to make sure you're ok?"

She nodded. "Thanks."

"It's no problem."

Aisha turned to say something to Rocky and that's when she noticed the anger behind his brown eyes. She looked back and forth between Rocky and the duo that was walking down the opposite hall. "Ok, Rocks, what's goin' on?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. He looked at her and the anger faded from his eyes instantly. "And _don't_ say nothing because I can tell when you're lying and when something is bothering you."

"I'll explain later," Rocky said, turning to go back to his class.

"Why later? What's the big secret?" Aisha asked, following him.

"Later, Sha, ok?" Rocky begged.

"Ok," Aisha sighed.

Rocky smiled and gave a little sigh of relief. "At lunch, then."

She smirked. "You skipped breakfast?"

"Of course not. I ate, but that was two hours ago, it feels like a lifetime!"

------

"Ok Rocky, we're all here, now explain," Aisha said as soon as Rocky sat down at the lunch table. He looked up from his tray of food which was overflowing to flinch when he noticed that everyone was staring at him, waiting to explain.

"You know you can tell us anything," Kim added with an encouraging smile and Trini nodded.

"Yeah, why've you been acting weird?" Zack asked.

Rocky took a bite out of his sandwich to stall as the others waited. He finally swallowed and said, "I know Melody."

"Well, duh! Everybody knows who she is now," Zack said as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I think what Rocky means is that he and Melody were in cahoots in a previous occasion," Billy spoke up.

They looked at Billy before turning their eyes to Trini. "He means that she and Rocky met before, a long time ago," she stated simply. They nodded and turned back to Rocky.

"I moved to Stone Canyon when I was twelve, but before then I lived in Belleview, Florida. I met Melody 'cause she was my next door neighbor and our dads became friends so we saw each other a lot." A small smile formed on Rocky's face. "We were inseperable. Our dads called us Jack and Jill or Batman and Robin 'cause we were together so much. We took to calling each other Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm as a joke 'cause the Flintsontes was the one cartoon we would always watch and it just stuck.

"When I was…eleven turning twelve my dad told me that he got a job in Stone Canyon and that we were moving. I didn't know how to break it to her so I waited until the last minute to tell her. I brought her to the park where we would always play games and I finally told her. she was upset, really upset, more upset than I thought she was going to be. Actually, she was so upset that she ran away. I didn't see her the rest of that day nor the next day when I actually moved and that hurt a lot. I promised her that I would write everyday but that proved hard when I moved to Stone Canyon and I met Adam and Aisha. I had to go to writing every week, which I did but I never got a response from her. I thought she hated me so I switched to writing every once in a while thinking that she still wanted to be my friend and that she was just going through some hard times. She never called, never sent an e-mail, never bothered to see me and I was so busy with training and rock climbing and stuff that I couldn't see her. Every time I tried calling her I caught her at a bad time and we never had enough money to fly to her so I just gave up.

"I didn't know she was coming back here and I figured that we could talk things out and go back to being friends. She won't talk to me now and…I don't know, I guess I just want things to go back to the way they were before. I miss her." He looked down at his tray and noticed that he had eaten everything. Shrugging, he grabbed his tray and went back to the line.

"Aww, I feel so bad," Kim muttered once Rocky was out of ear shot. "We should do something."

"Like what? We can't just force them to talk to each other," Zack pointed out. "Besides, you're on a strict no meddling rule."

"Me?" Kim raised her eyebrows. "Why am _I_ on a strict no meddling rule? I don't meddle."

"Yes you do," Tommy replied. Kim gasped and punched him on the arm.

"I do not! When have I meddled?"

"When you tried to get Ms. Appleby and Mr. Caplan together," Jason replied.

"What's so bad about that?"

"Mr. Caplan is married for one thing." Adam and Aisha chuckled.

"_Now_, he wasn't before. And you _know_ they would've been good together," Kim said in defense. "Besides, I'm not saying that they should date I'm saying that they should be friends again. It's totally obvious that he misses her and I bet, deep down, she misses him too."

"Say she does, how are you going to get them to talk to each other?" Adam asked.

"Well, she's coming to the Youth Center today. We could make it that he's the only one who shows up," Kim replied, clasping her hands together with a smile.

"I don't know. We shouldn't mess with affairs of the heart," Trini said slowly.

"Affirmative. We should let nature take its course," Billy agreed.

"Come on guys," Kim begged. "I hate seeing him so sad."

"He'll be fine a few minutes as soon as he gets some food in that pit he calls a stomach," Jason said. "Tell you what, we'll give them a few days and if they don't do anything _then_ we'll step in to help, ok?" He sighed with relief when Kim nodded ad went back to eating her food.

He knew he could convince Kim to do as he told, she was his surrogate 'little sister' after all and he had to make sure she didn't jump into things. Sometimes she makes a mess instead of helping the problem and then he was the one who had to go in and fix everything. He didn't want to have to deal with that for a while; he just got back after all.

What really surprised him was that Rita and Zedd haven't tried anything since he's gotten back a full five days ago. Surely they hadn't left the planet alone just like that? It was edging on Jason's nerves and he felt about ready to jump out of his skin if something happened especially since he didn't have his powers anymore.

"Are you all right, Jase?" Trini asked, her voice laced with concern.

Jason looked over at the Asian beauty. "I was just thinking about how Zedd and Rita are being kinda quiet." He didn't bother to keep his voice down; the cafeteria was loud enough to drown them out. They all jumped when Rocky dropped his full tray down on the table and he sat down, shoving food into his mouth.

"I've been thinking the same thing lately," Tommy admitted.

"Maybe it's part of their plan," Billy suggested. "To wait until the last possible moment to catch us off guard. They'd have the upper hand."

"But that doesn't mean they can defeat us," Aisha pointed out. "I think we should ask Zordon and Alpha to keep a lookout just in case. We still have our communicators so they can contact us whenever they think something is wrong and keep our minds at peace."

"Bottom line is: keep an ear on the communicator just in case," Adam agreed.

----

"Ok class, that's all for today. Get plenty of rest," Melody said as she wiped sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand. She watched the girls move around, collecting their things and shouting bye to her as they left.

She chuckled and shook her head a bit. How they had that much energy was beyond her. She remembered the days where she could easily bounce back from a hard day of work. Now she had to force herself out of bed in the mornings to get to where she needed to be.

She grabbed her things and went into the studio's shower. After making sure no one was around and leaving a _Do Not Disturb _sign on the door she quickly showered. Letting the warm water runoff of her head and trickle down her back. Looking back she didn't think her first day was that bad. Sure there were a few students who kept whispering about her instead of talking to her face but she was used to that. True, she had to deal with the likes of Bulk and Skull but she knew they wouldn't be a problem once they saw her really mad. She was only slightly agitated before. But why did _he_ have to be at Angel Grove? She thought she had left everything in her past behind when she moved but now reality decided to play a dirty trick on her and slap her in the face!

She turned off the shower heads, grabbed a towel, and quickly dried off before changing into her clothes which consisted of khaki shorts, a silver hooded vest, and a blue t-shirt with a tribal-like owl on the front, and small black converse high-tops.

"I'm out, Bree," she called to the lady sitting in the offices. Bree looked up and waved, signaling that it was ok for her to leave. She smiled as she put her headphones over her ears and walked the short distance to the Youth Center. She bobbed her head to the beat of the song, singing it under her breath, and danced a bit as she walked.

She pushed open the door of the Youth Center and her nose was met with the smell of lemon cleaner, some fruit, and the slight scent of stale sweat. She looked up when her name was called and noticed Kim waving her arms. Melody chuckled a bit, thinking that she looked like someone controlling air traffic. Kim stood when she neared the table.

"Glad you could make it," she said with a bright smile. "I don't think you've met everybody so this is Tommy, Billy, Adam, Trini, and Zack." She pointed to each person when she said their name. They waved and gave her a smile as Kim motioned for her to sit down.

"So what brings you here to Angel Grove?" Trini asked, breaking the silence the fell over the table.

"Dad's job," Melody replied, simply. "He got tired of staying on Florida and jumped at the chance to move." She scoffed and added bitterly, "Didn't even bother talking to me about it."

"Uh, so what do you do?" Tommy questioned.

"I dance. Sometimes I rock climb and I like to go hiking. And I kick box whenever I get the chance."

"Kick boxing? I'm impressed. Do you do it for fun or…?" Aisha asked.

"Workout purposes mainly but I also use it to get out some of my anger."

"Really?" Jason's eyebrows were raised and he had a competitive spark in his eye. "Do you want to spar a bit? I'd like to see what moves you have."

She looked pointedly at him. "I don't think you've noticed but I'm significantly smaller than you. You'd snap me like a toothpick."

Rocky's ears perked at her statement. _'Since when does she admit her disadvantages? Usually she keeps everything inside and bottled up. She never lets anyone know whenever they have the upper hand.'_

"Don't worry, it's against my beliefs to hurt a girl," Jason said with a smile. "Like I said I just want to see what you've got."

"Jason, I don't think–" Rocky started but stopped when Melody cut her blue eyes at him. He gulped and returned his attention to his smoothie.

"Hey, Rock, let me talk to you for a sec," Tommy spoke up. Rocky looked at his leader and nodded, standing, and followed Tommy into one of the halls of the place. "You're not even talking to each other yet she has you whipped," Tommy pointed out. "What's going on, man?" Rocky shrugged and remained silent. "You want to know what I think?" Rocky nodded. "I think you want her to be your friend again so badly that you're letting her push you around and that's not the Rocky I know. The Rocky I know would talk out any problem he came upon, of course any problem that's not a ranger problem. Just talk to her, let her see your side of things, and work it out. I hate seeing you upset."

Rocky nodded. "I am kinda out of it, aren't I?"

"Let's just say that Ernie doesn't have to worry about his stock of fresh fruit for his smoothies today." He and Rocky laughed as Tommy clapped Rocky on the shoulder. "And you might want to talk to her before Kim comes up with a crazy scheme to get you guys to talk."

"Kim and her plans." Rocky shook his head. "You gotta learn to stop her before those things come into her mind."

"Why me?"

"'Cause she's your girlfriend."

"Nah, we're not dating."

"But you're close," Rocky pointed out, smiling when Tommy blushed a bit. "You know you should really ask her to the Homecoming Dance before someone else does."

"I know. I'm still working on it."

"Well, you don't have much time left. The dance is only two weeks away."

"I know, I know, I just want things to be perfect when I ask her, that's all." The two turned the corner and stopped in their tracks. Melody was sparring with Adam and she seemed to be winning although she was smaller and shorter. She could place hits on lower parts of his body and could easily duck out of the way of his punches and kicks.

She got overzealous and left her defense wide open, giving Adam the opportunity to strike. She clutched her size and quickly ducked to get out of the way of the kick that was aimed for her head. She swiped her foot underneath Adam, causing him to lose his balance. She jumped back onto her feet, ready to throw out another kick when he placed his feet on the Y of her hipbones and launched her over his head. She landed on the mat as he jumped back up to his feet.

"Are you ok?" Adam asked, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet easily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to throw you that hard."

"It's cool," she said, rubbing her neck. "I didn't expect that.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, do you need some ice?" Aisha added watching as she continued to rub her neck.

"No, I'm fi–" she stopped in the middle of her sentence when the sound of a ringing phone reached their ears. "Oh man," she whispered. "I gotta go!"

"So soon? You haven't even tried out one of Ernie's smoothies yet," Rocky spoke up.

"Always thinkin' about your stomach, eh Rocko?" Jason asked with a smile. Rocky just shrugged.

"I don't have time. Dad wants me to help with the move," Melody said as she ran over to her bag and hastily stuck her arms though so it rested on her shoulders.

Tommy nudged Rocky so hard he almost fell over. "Uh, do you need some help?"

"Sure, whatever, I just gotta go," she said in a distracted tone. Rocky looked at Tommy who gave him a nod and a thumbs up.

_'This better be worth it,'_ Rocky said to Tommy only using his eyes before following Melody out of the Youth Center. She walked so fast that Rocky had to jog a bit to catch up to her frantic pace.

"Slow down, will ya? I'm going to puke form moving around so fast," Rocky called form behind her.

Melody slowed down a bit and looked at her over her shoulder. "If you didn't eat so damn much you wouldn't have to worry about it and you'd be able to move faster. I swear with how much you've eaten if you got a cut on your leg food would spill out. They're like weights."

"Weights that can still kick your butt like I did years ago."

That got Melody to stop in her tracks and fully turn around to look at him. "You mean that one cheap shot to my head? That wasn't fair, you _know_ you don't even have to kick that high to hit me."

"It's not my fault you're a shrimp," Rocky replied, walking past her, bumping her shoulder on purpose. _'If this doesn't work I don't know what will.'_ "How was Belleview anyway?"

"Same ol'," Melody replied, waving her hand. "The jocks were stupid. The cheerleaders were ditzy. The chemistry club was nerds, nothing new."

"Would you have moved here if you knew that I lived here?"

"Last I heard you lived in Stone Canyon."

"You're not answering the question."

She paused. "Yes, only for my dad."

_'That's it!' _Rocky let out a sound of annoyance. "What the hell did I do to make you so mad at me? If anything, _I_ should be the one mad at _you_."

She glared at him. "_You_ didn't write! Why the hell shouldn't I be mad?"

"Because I wrote you every single week," he replied. "Ask my mom and dad! They'll tell you. I didn't forget about you. I tried to call but you were never in. I tried sending e-mails but they were never responded to. _You're_ the one who shut me out, Mellie. The phone, postal service, _and_ e-mail works both ways so you're partly to blame for this." He ran a hand through his hair. "I couldn't ever forget about you, Bammers."

She flinched. "Don't call me that."

"We've been calling each other Pebbles and Bammers for years."

"Yeah, when we were _friends_."

"We're not friends anymore? You couldn't even tell me this?"

"If you wrote–"

"I _did_!"

Melody opened her mouth to shoot a retort but everything around her started shaking. She struggled to stay on her feet but had to move around to try and keep her balance. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Rocky was having the same problem but they were ultimately thrown to the ground. As soon as the shaking started it stopped.

"Great, an earthquake on my first day here. What's next, a tsunami?" Melody muttered sarcastically, slowly getting to her feet.

"That didn't feel like a normal earthquake," Rocky muttered to himself.

"Who are you to judge what's normal?" Melody asked dryly. "You're obsessed with the color red."

"When are you going to stop ragging on me? Do you want me to apologize?"

"Uh, yeah!" Melody replied.

"Fine, I apologize for not writing you, even though I know I did. I apologize for kicking you out of my life, even though I know I didn't! Happy now?" He demanded, throwing his arms into the air. "What is it going to take for me to get my Bammers back?"

She slowly shook her head. "A time machine," she replied.

"What do you mean by–" Rocky was cut off when he felt a kick to his side. He fell over, rolled, and jumped back to his feet as Melody rushed to his side. "Oh no," he muttered, locking eyes with the Putties that had appeared. The Putties quickly formed a circle around the two and started to move in closer, their arms flailing.

"What the heck are those things?" Melody asked, clenching her hands into fists, suddenly feeling and adrenaline rush.

"Mellie, give me your hand!"

"Rocky, this isn't the time for–"

"Just do it!" he reached out his hand and she grabbed it. Grabbing her arm he easily lifted her off the ground and spun her around, her feet knocked the Putties over. He set her back down on the ground and got into a fighting stance. "Mellie, maybe you should go back to the Youth Center."

"No way, Rockers," Melody replied, throwing her bag away and getting into a fighting stance herself. "You're going to need my help with these Clay Heads."

"Whatever. Iya!" Rocky jumped and kicked a Putty. He spun around and kicked backwards at another before landing a punch on the one in front of him. Adrenaline pulsed through his body as he landed kick after punch on the Putties. He used a few flips and handsprings to dodge the creatures that obviously didn't know when to give up. He looked at Melody out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was doing a pretty good job holding out on her own. Her kicks and punches were more precise and more powerful than he remembered, of course, before, they were play fighting, but now he couldn't help but be impressed. "Melody, look out!"

She turned around and whipped her head up, seeing a Putty that was about to kick her. She quickly executed a few back handsprings and landed by her backpack. Smiling a bit, she reached her hand in and pulled out a jump rope. "Thank God," she muttered, pulling it out.

"Mellie, this isn't the time for games," Rocky groaned.

"Who's playing?" Melody asked with a smirk. "Sit back and watch, Pebbles."

Rocky stepped back and watched as Melody used the jump rope as a whip of sorts, using maneuvers to whip, slap, or trip the Putties when they got close to her. Rocky laughed at the thought of a childhood toy being used as a weapon but she was using it very well, taking the time to perform flips and tricks to get out of the way, spinning the rope around her to hit the Putties. "Hey Mel, toss me one end," Rocky called, suddenly getting an idea. Melody did as she was told and the two held one side of the rope. "Who's up for some blowing?" He joked as a Putty ran towards them, the others staying behind watching and waiting. Rocky and Melody braced themselves as the Putty ran at them. They let the rope slack a bit so the Putty ran past them a bit but they pulled it forward and the Putty slammed into the others, knocking them down like bowling pins.

"Strike!" Melody cheered and Rocky laughed. "Geeze, these things don't know when to stay down."

"They're weak now," Rocky pointed out. "You have to aim for their Zs."

"How do you know?" Melody questioned.

"I just do! Come on!"

The two ran towards the Putties and attacked them before they could get back up, successfully landing punches and kicks at the Zs. They lit up before breaking apart before their eyes and disappearing.

"Man," Melody panted. "This has to be the strangest day of my life." She walked back to her dropped jump rope and bent to pick it up. As soon as her hand touched it, it was covered in bliding light. "What the hell?" She tried to jerk her hand back but something about it wouldn't let her let go. Her eyes widened when the rope seemed to jump up and wrap around her, pinning her arms to her sides and she struggled. "Hey!"

"Bammers!" Rocky was close to her side when another rope shot out and hit him in the chest, causing him to fly back a few feet and fall to the ground. "Oh no!" He muttered when a laugh filled the air and a monster appeared behind Melody. It's body was in the shape of a person, albeit it's skin was a gray color and instead of fingers it had jump ropes, some of which had Melody tangled.

"Rocky!" She shouted before she and the monster disappeared in white light.

"Oh man." Rocky lifted his communicator to his mouth when it's signature beep reached his ears. "Go."

"Rocky, Zordon just told us that there's a monster in your area. Are you all right?" Tommy's voice came through.

"I'm fine but the monster has Melody," Rocky replied.

"Looks like Zedd and Rita are back to their old tricks."

"Looks like it."


	5. Walking on Tight Ropes

**_Chapter 4:_**

_ Walking on Tight Ropes_

_(Or Homecoming Part 4)

* * *

_

Rocky looked around to make sure he was alone and pressed a button on his communicator. He was engulfed in red light and teleported to the Command Center where the others were waiting for him.

"Thank goodness you're ok," Kim sighed, hugging him.

"I'm fine," he said dismissively. "The monster just appeared out of nowhere. I didn't even see it coming." He angrily slammed his fist into his palm. The other rangers stayed silent and watched him fume.

"That's what Rita and Zedd were planning," Zordon replied, grabbing their attention. "They were waiting for one of you rangers to be vulnerable and then attack."

"I knew it was too quiet lately," Jason said as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Rangers the monster, known as Soap Rope, is located at the park. You have to be careful; he is going after little children so you have to take extra precaution in keeping your identities secret."

"What can we do, Zordon?" Trini asked looking at Jason and Zack.

"Yeah, we want to help," Zack said.

"You can go and make sure the kids are safe once released," Zordon replied.

"Ready guys?" Tommy asked the others. They nodded. "It's Morphin Time! Tigerzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Let go of me!" Melody yelled, squirming to get out of the ropes that had her tied to the monkey bars. A few other kids were tied as well and they were tried to get untied by squirming. A few were crying, others had stopped crying but had tear tracks on their cheeks. "What do you want from me?"

"You're bait to bring the Power Rangers here so I can destroy them," Soap Rope replied, dancing merrily.

"Yeah Dad, let's move to Angel Grove where there are monsters running around like there are earthquake occurrences," Melody muttered under her breath sarcastically. She flinched when the ropes got tighter, forcing her to change her breathing pattern. _'Geeze, from the reports I heard I figured the freakin' Power Rangers would be here in the past five minutes or so.'_

"There they are!" Melody lifted her head as the kids cheered when they saw the Power Rangers run up. Melody couldn't help but scoff at their spandex attire. Really, they could've worn something less…tight and colorful. It would be a hell of a lot easier to not get recognized or put at the top of the I Really Want to Know Who They Are and I Won't Rest Until I've Figured Out Their Identity list, Batman and Spiderman followed (Melody still couldn't believe that there were people in her school who actually believed they existed. Batman and Spiderman, not the Power Rangers). Bulk and Skull were the only ones she knew of who actually _tried_ to find out the Power Rangers identities, to disastrous results for what she heard.

"Hey." Melody flinched when she heard a voice by her ear. "Are you ok?"

"As good as I can be with rope burns," she replied.

"Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here," Trini said as she started working on a knot.

"How'd you know where I was?" Melody asked, watching as she tugged at the knot and tilted her head to see Jason and Zack working on the other knots that kept the kids stuck to the monkey bars.

"It's not hard to spot a monster," Trini replied, looking back and forth between the knot and the fighting Power Rangers. Trini sucked in a breath when the Pink Ranger was thrown back into the Blue Ranger by one of Soap Rope's whip-like ropes. "Why do they call him Soap Rope?"

"'Cause it's hard to grab onto him," Melody replied. "I tried fighting back as much as I could. I managed to grab one of his rope-fingers but the next second it slipped out of my hand like a bar of soap."

"It looks like they're really being beaten," Zack commented, wincing at the small explosion that was behind the Rangers. The force of it caused them to go flying into the air and landing hard on the ground.

"I think I have an idea," Jason suddenly spoke up. "But we don't have much time. Melody, as soon as you're free…"

"Man, this guy is tougher than he looks," Billy muttered, clutching his chest as he staggered back to his feet.

"We have to defeat him before he hurts the kids," Kim pointed out.

"But what can we do?"

Tommy suddenly lifted his head and looked in Jason's direction, towards the monkey bars. Jason was staring hard at Tommy as if speaking to him with his mind. Just by reading Jason's face Tommy understood that Jason had formed a plan. Tommy nodded slightly and got back to his feet, pulling out Saba and attacking Soap Rope himself. The other Rangers quickly followed suit.

"Now!" Jason hissed.

"Hey, Rope-head," Melody called from where she was standing. "Betcha you can't beat me in a Double Dutch contest."

"Huh? You little dweeb, I can beat you in a Double Dutch contest with my hands, er, fingers tied!" Soap Rope replied, turning his attention away from the Rangers.

_'What is she doing?'_ Rocky thought as he gripped his shoulder which was throbbing in pain. _'Is she stupid_?'

"Ok then. Trini, Jason, tie him up," Melody ordered. "Stay back kids," she added, looking at the kids as Zack backed them away. Jason and Trini tied all of Soap Rope's fingers to the monkey bars and twisted them so they formed two thick ropes. "Are you ready?" Melody asked.

"Bring it on!" Soap Rope replied. He started spinning the two ropes as fast as he could but Melody effortlessly jumped into the ropes and started speed jumping, keeping her eyes on the monster as he tried to swing the ropes faster to catch her off guard.

"He's distracted! Now guys," Rocky spoke up.

"Right. Power Cannon." The Rangers moved into position as they held onto the Power Canon that dropped onto their shoulders, waiting for the right moment to strike. Finally Melody jumped out of the ropes, panting. She stumbled a bit but Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the Monster who was now stuck in a knot.

"What?" Soap Rope cried in shock, pulling to try and untangle himself from the monkey bars. "Oh no!"

"Fire!"

"Get down!" Trini yelled, covering the heads of the little kids. A loud explosion shattered the air before it was replaced with silence. "Are you all ok?" Trini asked the kids who nodded and slowly got to their feet.

"Wow," a little girl breathed. "I can't believe I was _that_ close to the Power Rangers!"

"The White one is so cool!" A little boy gushed.

"No way! The Red one is cooler," another little boy said.

"The Pink one's pretty," the second girl said.

Jason smiled a bit as the kids ran back to the playground arguing about which Power Ranger was the best one. He remembered the time when it was him that they were talking about and wanting to meet. That was the only part about being a ranger that he missed, helping the innocent and making sure they were safe. The fighting and the day-to-day peril he could've done without, yet he knew if that were the case then they wouldn't be rangers in the first place.

"Get off me," Melody's voice cut through Jason's thoughts. He looked down and scrambled backwards to his feet, grabbing her arm and easily yanking her up to her feet.

"Sorry," he apologized as she brushed dirt off of her clothes. "Are you ok?"

"A little traumatized seeing as my first day in Monster Zone and I get captured by a jump-rope freak only to be saved by people wearing spandex," Melody replied, throwing her arms into the air.

"It could've been worse," Zack pointed out.

"How?" Melody demanded.

"You could've been out on a date with Bulk or Skull." The thought alone cracked him up. "Imagine those two on a date."

"Bulk and Skull on a date?" Trini wrinkled her nose. "That'll be the day I let my parents arrange my marriage."

"They shouldn't even dare with your loud mouth."

Trini glared at Zack whose chuckle slowly turned into a cough. "Uhm, your loud mouth that…sits on your…beautiful _face_!" he corrected himself.

Melody raised an eyebrow as Jason chuckled. "Was that a good save?"

"So Zack wouldn't have a sore ass, that was a good save," Jason replied.

"It was kinda weak. I wouldn't have fallen for it."

"Yeah, well, when it comes to Trini you always want to stay on her good side. But you're a girl so that wouldn't be hard." Jason looked at his watch. "Which way to your house?"

"Why?" Melody demanded.

"I want to walk you home," he replied. "Just in case other monsters decide to attack you on the way."

"So you're going to be my Knight Decked in Red?" Melody asked with a small smile. He smiled in return.

"Guys, I'll call you later, I'm going to walk Melody home," Jason told Zack and Trini.

"Ok, catch you later man," Zack said, clasping hands with Jason. Jason nodded, gave Trini a little wave, and started walking after Melody. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Zack asked Trini.

She nodded. "Hopefully we're not right."

"Dad! I'm home!" Melody shouted, kicking off her shoes and leaving them by the door. Jason looked around the place as Melody disappeared into the kitchen in front of them. The place was spacious but it didn't seem to be at the same time. Pictures line the walls of nature and animals and a few of a young blue eyed girl whom he assumed was her. A large spiral staircase was at the side of the foyer that led to a balcony-like second level. He slowly walked into the kitchen and took a look around.

Everything was bright and shiny. There was a large island in the middle that had a stove on top and large pots and pans hung from a hook above it. A dishwasher was stuck in one corner followed by marble counter top and a sink. Cabinets lined the walls and a big oven was on the wall by his left-hand side. A breakfast nook was in another corner in front of a banister that separated the kitchen and the living room. "How was your day?"

Jason lifted his head and looked in the direction of the living room to see Melody hug a man with ink black hair and soft blue eyes. "It was a little slow today but we had time to relax, which I needed," he replied.

"I can tell; you unpacked the rest of the stuff. How long did it take?"

"Not too long. I was late for work by about an hour but nothing went too wrong."

Melody smiled and hugged him again before turning to Jason. "Dad, this is Jason, er…"

"Jason Scott," he replied, walking forward and holding out his hand.

"He goes to my school, he's a junior," Melody continued.

"Really?" Mr. Williams raised his eyebrows, shaking Jason's hand before dropping it and putting both his hands in his pockets. "Tell me, Jason, what're you doing walking my daughter home?"

Jason could've sworn he heard Melody mutter 'Oh brother'. "I was on my way home myself and noticed that she ran into a bit of trouble with some guys from school. I wanted to walk her home to make sure they didn't bother her again," he lied easily.

Mr. Williams nodded. "Thank you for making sure she was safe."

"Dad, I'm fifteen, not five!" Melody finally said with an eye roll.

"Don't forget that there are weird people out here. Remember those news reports we saw?" He asked, turning to his daughter.

"Remember it was _your_ idea to move here," she pointed out.

Jason chuckled at their exchanged. He wouldn't have known they were father and daughter if she didn't say anything 'cause they acted more like friends. "Melody, I have to go or my mom's going to freak. I'll see you tomorrow?" She nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Williams."

"Lucas is fine," Mr. Williams said with a small smile. Jason nodded, waved to Melody, and left. "He seems nice."

"Don't even start," Melody said in a warning tone, going over to the small bed that was nestled in the corner of the couch and picked up the black and white Maltipoo.

"Start what?"

"Start that Mom thing. You know, whenever I make a friend she gets that goofy smile on her face and says 'Oh, I just know you two will be happy together'. She said the same thing about Ro–" she stopped herself.

"Do you still hate him?" Lucas asked, scratching the top of the dog's head.

"I don't _hate_ him," Melody corrected. "I just….I don't know what it is but it's not hate."

"Mhmm." He looked up when the doorbell rang and they exchanged confused looks before they both went to the door. "Speak of the Devil," Lucas said in a sing song voice. Melody elbowed him.

"What're you doing here?" She asked.

"I found your bag," Rocky replied, shifting it in his hands. "I wanted to give it back."

"How'd you find my address?"

"School directory," he replied simply. "I just came to give you this, honest." He held out the bag and she took it, never taking her suspicious eyes off of him. "How are you doing, Mr. W?"

"I've been great," Lucas replied. "How about you? When'd you move to Angel Grove?"

"About two years ago," Rocky replied. "Dad got another job transfer."

"How is Rockwell doing?"

"Great. He and Mom enjoy their jobs a lot and they say that we're probably here to stay. Well, until I graduate." He smiled a bit. "But I like it here. The place is amazing and there is a lot to do."

"What about the monsters?" Lucas asked.

"The Power Rangers take care of that," he shrugged. "You hardly notice them after a while."

"Thanks for bringing my bag back," Melody cut in with a tone in her voice that let them know that the conversation should end. "I'm betting it was out of your way."

"It was no problem at all." Lucas looked back and forth between him and Melody before saying something about having to check on dinner. Once he was out of ear shot Rocky spoke. "I'm glad you're ok."

Melody snorted. "Yeah 'cause you really did a lot to help me after that monster grabbed me."

"There wasn't much I could do," he replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yet Jason, Zack, and Trini managed to help me out," she pointed out. Rocky sighed. "Why do you keep coming back?"

"'Cause I'm not going to give up until I get my Ba…_you_ back, my friend. I hate that I hurt you, I hate knowing that I hurt you and I want to make things better."

"Are you staying for dinner? We have enough to go around," Lucas called from the kitchen.

Rocky looked at her. She sighed. "You can come in…if you want. Dad's right when he says we have enough to go around. He forgot that Mom's not here for the time being."

Rocky smiled and stepped into the house. "Why's she not here?" He questioned, taking his shoes off.

"Work," she replied simply, letting the dog go and it ran out of the room. "She'll be back Saturday."

The three sat down to eat and started catching up with each other. Well, Rocky and Lucas did. Melody stayed silent while she ate all the while wondering why in the world he went out of his way to talk to her.

She got that he wanted to be her friend again, she got that loud and clear, but why wouldn't he accept the fact that she didn't want to give in that easily? She scoffed at the thought. Rocky giving up was like saying she loved fish, which was a lie. She hated it with a passion. She should've known, Rocky never gives up on anything, that's probably partially why he's named Rocky, or lived up to it, he's so stubborn his head is made of rock.

"Mellie, do you need a ride to school tomorrow?" Rocky's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Mellie?" Lucas chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. "It's been so long since I've heard you being called _that_."

"Stuff it," Melody snapped, slightly glaring at her father who shrugged. Then she turned to Rocky. "No, I don't need a ride," she stated somewhat rudely. Lucas kicked her under the table. "But thanks," she added.

"No problem." He looked at the clock on his wall. "I better get going. Mom probably has dinner on the table."

"You _just_ finished eating," Melody pointed out.

"You know the boy's stomach, it's a bottomless pit," Lucas laughed. He then turned to look at her, his stare speaking volumes.

Rolling her eyes Melody got to her feet and walked Rocky to the door. "Thanks, for letting me stay I mean," he said as he stepped over the threshold.

"Trust me, I wouldn't have had a choice, especially if my mom were here," she replied, keeping a hand on the doorknob. "Thanks for bringing back my bag."

"No problem." He hesitated. "Hey Mellie? When can I call you Bammers again?"

She pondered the thought. "When you stop walking on egg shells or treating me like a porcelain doll, whichever one comes first," she replied. He grinned from ear to ear, bid her goodbye, got into his car, and drove away.

"The boy misses you," Lucas said as Melody closed the door.

"I know," she replied.

"You know you want him back."

"I know." She turned around and grinned. "But I want him to work for it."


	6. Preparations

**_Chapter 5:_**

_Preparations

* * *

_

Melody had only been in Angel Grove for about a week but she felt like she'd been there her whole life. The teachers were nice to her and helped her catch up on a few homework assignments that were missed during her move. The students, on the most part, treated her as if she'd been there forever. She fit into her class well but she found herself gravitating towards Rocky and his friends. Them being juniors was the last thing on her mind, there was something about them that made her like spending time with them so she did it as much as possible.

Such as helping them work on decorating the Youth Center for the Homecoming dance. She wasn't for it at first but Kim had persuaded her into it, using Rocky as her reason for going. Melody just laughed at that but agreed to go anyway because there was free food and good music to listen to while they worked. It would take away her mornings and afternoons but she was glad to do it.

"Ok, here are your assignments," Kim said with a bright smile one morning. "Tommy and Billy, you can be in charge of filling all those cups with these straws." She held up a fistful of color swirly straws and pointed at the large amount of cups that were sitting on a free table. Tommy and Billy sighed but did as they were told. "Trini and Zack, you can make up the set list for the dance. Try and stay away from rap music, less rap more techno and don't forget to throw in a few slow songs every now and then."

"Don't worry, I won't pass up a chance to dance with sweet Angela," Zack said as he rubbed his hands together. Trini rolled her eyes but smiled and lightly pushed him away.

"Jason and Melody, you two can blow up the balloons and Adam and Aisha you tow can put up the balloons once they're done blowing them up. Rocky, you're with me; we'll be hanging up streamers. Ok, we have exactly…an hour and a half until we have to get to school. I want to get a lot of this done so we don't have to worry about it later."

They nodded and went off in different directions of the Youth Center to do what they were told. They called across the gym to each other cracking jokes and doing anything to bring up their spirits. It was early in the morning for some of them and they knew the only way things would go by faster was if they had some energy.

"Mmm," Rocky hummed, licking his lips and smiling at Ernie. "This smoothie is good. Keep 'em comin'." Ernie nodded as Rocky turned around, jumping back when he saw Kim standing in front of him, tapping her foot. "Sorry, I didn't have breakfast yet," he apologized, putting the bright colored plastic cup on a nearby table and followed her over to a ladder.

"Really? Rock DeSantos _skipped_ breakfast?" Kim asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"I said I didn't eat it _yet_. I never skip a meal, you know that."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Tommy said as he lightly slapped Jason's stomach as he walked by.

"Ha ha," Jason laughed sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "That food goes to good use: kicking your butt in sparring."

"That only happened, what was it, one time? Barely even that."

"I see your memory's been slipping while I was away," Jason said as he tied the bottom of a red balloon.

"My memory's fine, Jase. It's your imagination that's running wild." Tommy smirked.

"Get to work guys, I don't want any bloodshed," Kim called from the top of the ladder. They looked up at her and saw that she had a smile on her face.

"Sorry Sis," Jason said as he put his balloon down and took the one that Melody held out to him.

"Are you related?" Melody asked before blowing into the pink balloon in her hands.

"Who? Me and Kim?" Jason asked. She nodded. "No, we're close. I've known her since we were in kindergarten. She's like a kid sister to me. I call her Sis as a joke and it kinda stuck." He shrugged and tied the end of the balloon in his hands.

"So you've all been friends for a while?" Melody questioned.

"Yeah. Tommy's the newest one. Well, actually to be specific it _was_ Tommy, then it was Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, and now it's you. But Tommy moved here when we were freshmen. We've been tight ever since." Melody held out another balloon for him to tie. "How're classes?"

She shrugged. "Boring. The only class I like in the slightest is Ms. Appleby's. She makes learning interesting. The others put me to sleep."

Jason laughed. "I know what you mean. Ms. Appleby is the best."

"Yeah, she's really nice. She's helped me catch up in my classes which has really helped." She blew up another balloon and her cheeks turned from the strain. Jason started laughing and she shot him a death glare. 'What the heck is so funny?"

"You _do_ know we have a helium tank you could use," he replied pointing behind her. She slowly turned around to see that there was, indeed, a helium tank.

"You let me blow up, like, twenty balloons and you didn' tell me!" She demanded. He nodded and laughed. "Were you _ever_ going to tell me?"

"I thought you _knew_!"

Melody glared at hit his arm with the blown up balloon but that only got him to laugh harder. She smirked and rubbed the balloon against her head. She pulled it away, reached out a finger, and shocked him on the nose.

"Ow!" he cried out, grabbing his nose. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry I laughed."

Across the room Aisha smiled as she looked around at the decorations that covered the Youth Center. Only a week and a few days until the Homecoming Dance and the place was looking great. It was how long it could stay that way was what worried her. Every day Bulk and Skull would come in and rip down a few streamers or pop balloons here and there. She didn't even _want_ to know how many balloons she had put up.

"Hey Sha, we need a few balloons over there," Adam called from the bottom of the ladder that he was holding onto. Aisha followed his finger and nodded noticing a bare corner before turning and climbing back down the ladder.

How Kim convinced them all to decorate the place was beyond her but she was glad that they could help out and have fun at the same time. Also, it wouldn't take that long to get everything set up.

"This place is looking great guys," Ernie said as he placed a tray of smoothies on the table. "Ok guys, drink break on me."

"Well, that should be enough to satisfy Rocky but what about the rest of us?" Tommy joked. Rocky blushed and picked up a glass and sat down. The others did the same and took sips as they admired the gym.

"I think we're done. What else do we need?" Trini asked.

"Um, we need to confirm the DJ, catering, and the flowers as well as finish putting up the streamers and balloons," Kim replied, looking at a clipboard.

"Look around, Kim, _where_ are we going to put more streamers and balloons?" Jason asked.

"I'll find a place."

"You need to find a place to locate your _sanity_," Jason muttered under his breath. Kim heard him and lightly slapped his arm with her clipboard. Jason just laughed. "Sorry, sis," he apologized. She just rolled her eyes and smiled.

"The flowers should be coming in sometime after school so we should all meet back here right after school to finish up," Kim announced, looking at her watch.

"Are you sure _you'll_ get here on time?" Rocky asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"For the head of the Decorating Committee you've set a bad example yourself for being late this morning." He grinned, biting his straw as Kim turned her gaze to Tommy.

"I wouldn't have had to worry about that if _someone_ didn't oversleep," Kim said, raising her eyebrows. Tommy chuckled nervously as the others grinned. They continued to talk about the dance and how much more time would be spent on working on the decorating part before they headed off to school. Kim opted to walk with Aisha and Melody instead of taking a ride with Tommy or the others. She waved to Tommy and jogged a little to catch up to her friends. "Guys, I'm so excited. I can't wait to get to the mall to start looking for my dress. Aisha, want to come with me?"

"Of course, girl," Aisha replied, high fiving her. "How about you, Melody, want to come?"

She snapped her head up, breaking her gaze with the pavement. "Come where?"

"The mall to get dresses for Homecoming," Aisha replied.

"No thanks, I'm not even going to go," Melody replied.

"What? Why not?" Kim questioned.

Melody shrugged. "School dances aren't my thing. The dressing up, the girls going crazy over getting the perfect dress, getting hair done, getting nails done…" she shuddered "I can't stand it."

"But that's the fun part!" Kim gasped.

"Yeah, its fun being stuck in tubes of fabric feeling uncomfortable and wearing shoes that hurt all night," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"She's right about the shoes," Aisha admitted, smiling a bit. "You'd have fun if you went with someone. Why don't you ask someone?"

"Who in this school _can_ I ask? I've been here for, like, five days. I barely know anyone."

"You could ask Skull and get him off my back," Kim joked.

"Or Bulk so he'll leave me alone," Aisha agreed.

"They'd leave in an ambulance."

Kim and Aisha laughed. "Well, will you think about it? I don't want you being the only one without a date," Kim said as the entered the school.

"I _told you_ I'm _not_ go–"

"See you later!" Aisha called over the noise of the students.

Melody shook her head in defeat and went to her locker.

"Jason, I told you, you don't have to keep walking me to my classes. I know where they are just fine now."

"I know but I want to do it. Believe it or not I actually _like_ talking to you."

"You're going to be late."

"No I won't."

"You won't take no for an answer will you?"

"Nope."

Rocky lifted his head and wiped water off of his mouth with the back of his hand. He searched the halls until he spotted Melody walking in his direction with Jason. _Ah, so that's where he went. Should have known he's never left her side since she came to this school._ Rocky frowned at the jealous tone in his head. Green wasn't his color; that belonged to Tommy once. All kidding aside Rocky wasn't a jealous person…or was he? He shook his head. _You should be glad Mellie's found someone else to talk to. The world doesn't revolve around you, Rocks, no matter how much you want to be her friend again. Just take it one step at a time,_ he told himself.

"Hey Rocky," Melody greeted him with a smile. Rocky let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled as well. He missed her smile, the one that made dimples form in her cheeks. Her genuine smile.

"Hey Mellie," he greeted her. "Jason, what's up?"

"Not much, just going to my locker," Melody replied.

"How was your test?"

"Killer," she replied rolling her eyes. "I did my best. Some things the school covered I hadn't at my old school so I hope they don't take points off for that."

"You could always talk to your teachers about it," Jason suggested.

"I don't want special treatment. I'll just make sure I do better on the next one."

"Mel, are you free right now?" Rocky asked shifting the backpack that was on his back. "I was hoping we could talk."

"Sure." She nodded and turned to Jason. "I'll see you later."

"I'll be waiting at your locker, ok?"

"Ok, see ya." She gave him a little wave and followed Rocky through the halls and to the cafeteria. She watched in amusement as he pondered over what to eat for about five minutes before decided on a foot long sub stuffed with roast beef, cheese, tomato, onion, and bacon along with a big piece of apple pie. "I hope you have a breath mint 'cause I'm not going to want to be near you once you're finished eating that," she commented. Rocky merely smiled. "What'd you want to talk about?"

"Nothing in particular, I just wanted to see how you were doing, being new here and all," he replied before biting his sandwich. His cheeks bulged slightly from the amount of food that was in his mouth.

"I'm fine," she replied, a look of disgust slowly forming on her face. "The school's all right although the classes are kinda boring. I'm just trying to find something to do after school aside from dance classes."

"There's _plenty_ to do here." He accidentally spat out food when he emphasized plenty. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "Sorry," he apologized, reaching out and brushing bits of bread off of her face. "Anyway, you could help teach some karate classes or you could volunteer at some shelters. Aisha volunteers at the vet. She says it's a lot of fun. And, um, you could help coach some sports here or you could just go to the lake or the beach or something. There are so many things to do here that I can't even think of them all."

"Thanks for helping me narrow it down," she said sarcastically with a little eye roll.

"Do something you like. Uhhh, you're all ready teaching a dance class…" he snapped his fingers. "Why don't you help out Aisha? You like dogs and they need some help down there."

"I don't know…" she muttered.

"Well, we still have to worry about decorating the Youth Center so you have a while to figure it out." He took another bite of his sandwich. "Who're you going with anything?"

"Like I told Kim and Aisha I'm not going," she replied, reaching forward and pulling out an apple chunk from his pie slice.

"What? Why not?" Rocky demanded ocne he swallowed.

"Rocky, you _know_ that I don't like dressing up. Why would I want to do that for a stupid dance?"

"You're a girl. Don't you like shopping for shoes or clothes or stuff like that?"

Melody glared. "I'm not materialistic, you know that."

Rocky blinked. What did he say to get her so upset so quickly? He didn't do anything wrong, he had just asked her a question. He sighed. He knew her fuse was short but he didn't think it was _that_ short, at least he didn't remember it being that short. Girls are so weird.

"Right, sorry. I meant, well, uh…" Rocky stammered trying to find an excuse. He might as well have a sign pointing to his mouth that read feet are welcome. "What I meant was–"

"You're still clueless when it comes to tact and girls," she interrupted shaking her head slowly. Rocky grinned sheepishly.

"Hey guys, I wondered where you went," Aisha greeted them, sitting down at the table. "Kim just told me that they're not only having a DJ at homecoming but they're also letting a few people perform so we're going to have live music as well."

"Really? That's so cool," Rocky said. "You should try out, Sha. You have an amazing voice."

She pulled a face. "I don't know. Adam tried to convince me as well but…"

"But nothing. Your voice is killer."

"You really think I should do it?" Aisha asked, sitting up a bit straighter. "What do you think, Melody?"

"If Rocky says its killer than its killer and you should try out," she replied, pressing her fork into the pie piece of take a bite.

"But we have to audition. What if I don't get it?" She asked.

"You _will_! Don't take no for an answer!" Rocky said, pointing his sandwich at her. "They'd have to be crazy to say no to you. When's the audition?"

"Right after school," Aisha replied. "I'm excited but nervous. Will you come and watch, Rocky, please? I'm sure I'll do great with you there."

"Of course, Sha. I'll be there."

"Yes! Thanks so much!" She jumped up and hugged him around his neck. He chuckled and lightly patted her back. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"'Sha, stop thanking me all ready," Rocky laughed. "Of course I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it."

"Thank you!" Aisha said again. "I'm going to go practice before class. See you later." She ran back towards the school and disappeared once she went through the doors.

Rocky chuckled and stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. As he chewed he grabbed his fork and was about to stab it into his pie but it was now missing. "Hey!" he cried out once he swallowed. "Where'd my pie go?" He looked at Melody and chuckled as she hastily wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What pie?" She questioned innocently.

"The pie that's sitting on your face," he replied, holding out a napkin to her. It was her turn to smile sheepishly as she wiped off her mouth.

"I'm telling you man it's so good to be back," Jason said as he dropped down on the bed. Now that they didn't have to 'hide' anymore Jason, Trini, and Zack had gone back to their respective homes. After sparring a bit at the Youth Center Tommy invited Jason over to his house so they could finish some homework so they wouldn't have to worry about it later and then wake up early the next day to finish decorating. "I'm glad I can wear shorts again all of the time. I'm telling you, the cold isn't for me."

"It was cool, wasn't it?" Tommy asked, sitting in his swivel chair.

"The temperatures or what we did?" Jason joked. Tommy laughed. "The Conference was amazing. We did so many things to help enforce peace between nations. I, I feel…I feel like we're changing the world in a way. I know it's in a small way but I can't stop thinking that the decisions we've made might make the world a better place in the long run."

"Sounds like you had a good time," Tommy said, smiling at his friend. Jason nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, it was great. But I missed the food here. Most of the stuff over there I didn't eat 'cause it had a weird name," Jason said as he pulled a face. "I think I lost about ten pounds as a whole."

"Yeah but you probably gained it back as muscle weight," Tommy said turning back to his homework. He held the tip of his pencil to the paper and started to do his homework. Well, he _wanted _to do his homework but thoughts of Kimberly filled his mind. She was always the reason he didn't get his homework done when he wanted to and ended up pulling an all-nighter. He sighed and tapped the end of his pencil on the paper. _I wonder what Kim's doing right now…_

"Ok, what's on your mind?" Jason asked, standing over Tommy.

"What? Nothing," Tommy replied, turning around in his chair so he could look up at the former Red Ranger.

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a bad liar, you know. So you might as well tell me what it is before I _make_ you." He grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles.

Tommy chuckled and pointed his pencil towards the bed. "Sit down, man." Jason did as he was told and waited. "I…I can't stop thinking about Kimberly," Tommy admitted.

"Is that all?" Jason questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Man, that's no surprise. Everyone can _tell_ that you always think about her."

"That's not what I mean." Tommy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What I mean is…I think about the bad things." Jason stayed silent but urged Tommy to continue by lowering his head a bit. "I mean, we _graduate_ next year, Jase. What happens after that? Do we go to the same college? Do we split? And what about the Power Rangers? How are we going to be able to protect the Earth or Angel Grove, our home, our parents? Do we tell them that we were the Power Rangers?" He shook his head. "I hate not knowing what's going to happen in the future, Jase."

"I hate it too," Jason replied. "But what can we do? We just have to take things that are thrown at us and deal with it." He shrugged. "As for your Kimberly problem, you relaly have to talk to her about it, but at the same time I don't see the point."

"Why not?" Tommy asked.

Jason smiled. "'Cause I bet you two are going to be together forever."

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Tommy sighed. "We should get back to our work or else we'll be knee deep in it."

"Good idea."

Jason pulled out his books and sorted them around him as Tommy started on his homework. Jason glanced at him and then looked down at his school books but even then he couldn't pay attention. Tommy had asked a few good questions that now had him worried. What will happen to the Power Rnagers after they graduate?

* * *

**A/N: I said that Tommy moved there when they were freshmen 'cause it felt weird to me that all three seasons of Mighty Morphin' and Zeo they were juniors so I changed it up a bit to sound right. I made it so the first season was a mix of their freshman and sophomore year while this one, which is roughly set in season 2, is their junior year. So this is a slight AU.  
**


	7. All You Can Ever Learn

**_Chapter 6:_**

_All You Can Ever Learn is What You All Ready Know

* * *

_

Jason watched in amusement as Zack tried, endlessly, to win over Angela like he did before. Jason was glad that everyone went back to normal as soon as they returned. He loved not having to worry about being attacked 24/7, he could live his life normally now.

He lifted the barbell that was on his chest and put it back onto the stand and sat up. He was glad he didn't have to worry about it but he missed the adventure. A little part of him wished he was able to get his power back as soon as he returned. But then that wouldn't be fair to Rocky or the others. They were doing a great job with the power and they were keeping everyone safe and that's all that mattered. It's just that Jason didn't know what to do with all of his spare time now.

"Strike out again?" Jason asked as Zack walked over to him. He squirted some water into his mouth before lying back down and going back to work.

"Man, it's like she completely forgot all about me when I left!" Zack cried, through his arms into the air. "I have to start over again. Do you know how long it took for me to win her over the _first_ time?"

"Trust me, I know. I had many days of amusement at your expense," Jason replied, smiling a bit, lifting the barbell off of the stand and getting back to work. Zack stood behind him, spotting, just in case something happened.

"This is serious, man."

Jason replaced the barbell and sat up, wiping his face with his towel. "You've won her over before, I'm sure you can do it again. Just be yourself. It's worked before." Zack nodded, a smile formed on his face and a faraway look came to his eyes. Jason chuckled and got off the bench, making sure to wipe it down before joining his friends at the table. Adam, Aisha, Rocky, and Melody all had books spread out across the table and were staring hard at the books in their laps. "Careful, you're going to hurt yourselves if you think too hard," Jason joked.

"I'd rather get hurt than have to take my History test," Melody groaned, leaning back and rubbing her eyes. "It's seriously going to kick my butt. If I get a C or below my dad'll take away my lessons for a week. Or worse, get a tutor."

"How is getting a tutor worse than getting your lessons taken away?" Aisha asked.

"'Cause then I'd actually _have_ to do my homework," she replied as if it were obvious. Aisha nodded and smiled, returning her attention to her book.

"I hate being inside on such a good day," Rocky grumbled, looking longingly out the window. "I want to play some volleyball or something. Or swimming. Ooh!" His eyes lit up. "Let's go to the beach!"

"Rocky, what about our math test?" Adam questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Wouldn't you rather get your studying done now? The beach will always be there tomorrow."

"So will these books," Rocky replied, letting out a frustrated breath that blew his hair off of his forehead. "The test isn't until the end of the week, we have plenty of time to study." He closed his books and looked at Aisha. "C'mon, Sha, I _know_ you haven't been to the beach in a while…" She looked at him and noticed the pleading look in his eyes.

"Uh-oh, the Puppy Dog Pout," Melody chuckled closing her own books as well and shoving them into her backpack. "You're not going to get out of this one. It's irresistible. Might as well give in now."

Aisha slowly smiled. Rocky cheered and pumped his fists into the air as Adam turned to Jason. "You're not even going to stop them?" He questioned.

He shrugged. "You _have_ been stuck inside for a while. Taking a break will do you some good."

"Yes. I'll call Kim and the others and we can meet them there," Aisha said, jumping up from the table.

----

"Hmmm, so the Power Brats are going to the beach?" Zedd muttered, pacing as he tried to come up with a monster to use against them. He replayed past battles in his head, taking in every detail that he could. Something about the Power Rangers had to be able to stop them, but what was it?

"What makes you think you can make a better monster than me, Fence Face?" Rita demanded, watching as he continued to pace in the space of their lair on the Moon. Zedd chose to ignore her as he continued pacing, tapping his chin with his free hand. "Hey Grill Teeth, I'm talking to you!"

"And I heard you. I am trying to think but it's hard when you won't stop babbling," Zedd growled, clutching his metallic fingers into a fist. "There is a reason that we've always been defeated, a reason that Zordon has gotten teenagers to do his dirty work, and do you know what that reason is?"

"Uhh, he likes watching us lose to a bunch of humans?" Squatt guessed.

"No…because he thinks that we won't destroy them," Zedd replied.

"But…you _haven't_ destroyed them," Baboo pointed out.

"Not _yet_. I was just testing them," Zedd replied.

"Uh, yeah, me too!" Rita agreed, standing and shuffling over to her husband. "What exactly do you have in that mind, Tin Man?"

Zedd merely cackled.

------

"See? I _told_ you it was a good idea to come to the beach," Rocky commented, nudging Adam on the arm. Adam merely smiled and looked around. A lot of little kids were playing in the shallow part of the ocean. Some ventured into deeper waters while the adrenaline junkies dared to hit the waves.

Tommy, Jason, Zack, and Billy were playing against Kimberly, Aisha, Trini, and Melody in a volleyball game. The game was really close. The girls were doing a good jo keeping the score leveled with the boys. Probably because Zack spent most of the time bragging and trying to impress the girls that would pass by.

"What's wrong? You're supposed to be having fun," Rocky said, looking at his friend. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the worried look on his face.

Adam struggled to find the right words. He really wanted to say what had been on his mind for a while but he could never seem to find the time to tell them. Or he would just chicken out because he would thinking that they would laugh at his thoughts.

"I was just thinking about Rita and Zedd," Adam replied. "I just can't shake the feeling that they're planning something."

"Adam, they haven't done anything in days," Rocky pointed out.

"Exactly. That's what has me worried. I mean, usually they send a monster out every day. It's weird that we've onluy been attacked once in the past week. I feel like they're planning something big if it's taken them this long to send something down to try and destroy us. What if…what if they've gotten smarter? Or found a weakness or something?"

"For one thing, they're not smart. At all. So you don't have to worry about that happening," Rocky said with a grin. Adam smiled and chuckled a bit. "As for the second we don't _have_ a weakness so they can't do anything to defeat us. We always find holes in their plans before they can even do anything remotely harmful to us. And even if they do, we have each other to help through the bad times."

"That's another thing that has me worried," Adam continued. "What if, one day for some reason, we won't be able to help each other? What if, for some reason, we turn on each other?"

"That will never happen. I'll never turn my back on you," Rocky said in a firm voice. "Want to know why?" Adam nodded. "Because you're my best friend. Not even, you're, like, my _brother_. I would _never_ do anything to hurt you on purpose. And if I was put under a spell or I was brainwashed to hate you…I would still find a way to get out of it because I would never do that to you. Or any of the other Rangers 'cause I know you would do the same for me." He beamed when Adam nodded his agreement. "As long as we're together we have nothing to worry about, there's no challenge we can't face."

Adam smiled and turned his attention back to the volleyball game. He and Rocky flinched when Zack hit the sand hard after missing a shot. He groaned and got to his feet, brushing sand off of him as the girls cheered and high fived.

"Hey, why don't we try surfing?" Kim said as she walked over to them.

"I don't know, the waves seem kind of rough," Tommy commented, glancing over his shoulder at the waves that were crashing against the shore.

"Oh come on. It'll be fun."

"I have to agree with Tommy, Kimberly. The waves have a crest of about five feet and that doesn't account for the wind speed. The speed of the wave plus the velocity of the wind could make one surf at an accelerated rate that if they fall it would cause bodily harm," Billy said, squinting in the sun as she looked towards the water.

Everyone looked at him in confusion before looking at Trini. "The waves are too rough and the wind is too high. You're sure to get hurt if you fall," she translated simply.

"Affirmative," Billy agreed. "But you _can_ bodysurf."

"Bodysurf?" Aisha repeated. "I'm down."

"Count me in," Kimberly said eagerly, clasping her hands together and bouncing on her toes. "What about you guys?' She asked, turning to look pointedly at Jason and Tommy. They looked at each other, shrugged, and nodded to Kimberly. Zack opted out, saying he wanted to work on his tan but they all knew it was code for wanting to check out the girls on the beach. Trini agreed to go with them and Billy agreed as well. Aisha turned to the boys who were sitting down. "How about you, Adam? Rocky?"

"Sure, I'm up for anything," Adam said standing as he clapped sand off of his hands.

"Count me out. I want to keep my face," Melody said with a smile, waving her hands.

"Yeah, I'll stay out too," Rocky said.

"Are you sure? You haven't done anything except sit here The water's really great today," Trini said in a tone that she used when she tried to convince people to do something.

"I'm good, but you guys have some fun. I want to try out the new sundae that the Dairy Shack has. And I can't go swimming on a full stomach."

"Ok, suit yourself." Aisha shrugged, grabbed Kimberly's hand, and the two raced off to the ocean closely followed by everyone else.

"Hmmm, passing up a new sport to eat. Yeah, you're the same ol' Rocky," Melody chuckled, pulling her hair back and started to braid it.

"I would never pass up the chance t test food. If I could get a job doing that then I'd be happy for the rest of my life," Rocky replied.

"You don't want kids or a family? Happiness from money can only get you so far."

"Good point." Rocky dug his toes into the warm sand. "How're your parents liking Angel Grove?"

"Dad loves it," Melody replied, squinting to look at the horizon. "Camera sales have skyrocketed because people, tourists especially, want to try and take pictures of the monsters that are around here. Also there are so many different environments here that he can take pictures for his own portfolio."

"Oh yeah, he still takes pictures of nature?"

"And candids now, but that's only when people ask for it. Like, he follows them around at a distance and takes pictures of them at good moments." She started to braid the other section of her hair. "What about your? How're your parents taking it? They've been here for a while, I know, but…"

"They seem to like it. Mom's freaked out about the monsters although they never attack homes, they only attack the city."

"That's a comfort," she muttered sarcastically. "More people could get hurt in the city, Well, I guess that's what the monsters want." She paused and tilted her head in thought. "I wonder why it is they only attack Angel Grove. They must know the Power Rangers live here or else they'd attack somewhere else. So…if they live here…then the Power Rangers could be anyone in Angel Grove."

Rocky's breath got caught in his throat. It felt like he was choking on air. What if she found out they were Power Rangers? Then what? Will she keep their secret? Would she use it for blackmail?" Rocky shook his head slightly; he knew his Bammers wouldn't do that. She would _never_ do that. But maybe…well, he _was_ keeping a secret from her. As far as he knew they've never kept secrets from each other and this was a big one. But he couldn't just come right out and say he was a Power Ranger, aside from the shock factor he had rules he needed to follow.

"Yeah but they're most likely adults," Rocky said slowly. Melody looked at him, raising her eyebrows. "I mean would adults really want their _kids_ to go off fighting monsters like that? Somehow I don't think they're willing to see them run off and battle a monster," he explained, lightly biting his bottom lip, anxiously waiting to see if she'd buy his lie.

She nodded slowly. "Makes sense." She made a scoffing sound. "Leave it to adults to take all of the fun from us kids."

"You'd rather it be a bunch of kids fighting the monsters?"

"We're going to have to protect this world when the adults get older, why not start that way?"

"Why not start with a sundae?" he asked, jumping up and brushing sand off of his red swim trunks. "C'mon, I'm starving."

"That should be your middle name."

"Ha ha." He lightly grabbed her arm and easily yanked her to her feet. "Geeze, do you eat feathers for lunch?"

"No but you'll probably be the first one to try it if it were scientifically proven it was a type of food," Melody replied brushing sand off of herself and followed him down the beach, shoving her hands into the pockets of her board shorts.

"Why are you raggin' on me?" Rocky asked in mock hurt.

Melody laughed. "You make it too easy, Rockers."

He smiled and lightly bumped his shoulder against hers, knocking her off balance slightly. In return she punched his shoulder. He kept the smile on his face, letting her know that it didn't hurt. She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, speeding up her pace a bit. When he made sure she wasn't paying attention he grabbed his arm where she punched him. It _did_ hurt, but he didn't want her to know or else she'd be bragging about it.

She didn't change _that_ much but her change _was_ noticeable.

"Whoa, that looks good," Melody commented, pointing at the picture of the sundae.

"I don't know, that might be a little too much fer ya, little lady," the worker said, looking at her.

"We can share it," Rocky told Melody, holding out the money. He turned to look around at the beach as he waited for the worker to prepare the sundae. "You know, Mellie, I really did try to talk to you."

"I know that," Melody admitted. "It's just weird how I never got any of the letters you sent. I checked the mail everyday when I got home. They couldn't just disappear like that." She paused. "And every time I called you were busy, especially around I think it was your junior year of school. I got your number from your mom but…"

Rocky blanched. That was about the time he had met Tommy and the others. It was a couple of months after that that he took on the duty of being a Power Ranger. It was no wonder she couldn't contact him, he didn't know when Rita would strike and he was almost always practicing something or doing homework after school. Wait a minute…

"What did you just say?" Rocky asked, interrupting her.

"I said I got your new number from your mom but–" She started.

"That's odd," Rocky interrupted her again, ignoring the large bowl of ice cream that was put down on the counter behind his arm. Melody gave him a questioning look. "You just said you got my new number from my mother. She usually tells me whenever someone has called looking for me…" he let his voice trail off as it hit her.

"But…why wouldn't she tell you that I called?" Melody asked slowly. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know…" Rocky mumbled. He didn't want to believe that his mother was the sole reason of their fight, but what else could he believe? He shook his head and forced a smile. "Well, it doesn't matter 'cause you're here now."

"Always the optimist."

"You _made_ me the optimist since you were a freakin' pessimist." He flicked her nose and turned to the sundae, taking a huge scoop with the spoon and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mmmmm, thish ish soo gooo'."

"Ugh, that's _one_ thing I didn't miss about you," Melody sighed, lightly hitting her forehead with her hand and shaking her head. "You may have grown but your manners certainly haven't matured." Rocky merely beamed and took another scoop of the sundae.

They finished the sundae (with Rocky eating most of it) before joining the others in the ocean. They played the normal games such as Marco Polo and Octopus as well as trying to surf when the waves were calmer. (Trying being the key word there). Billy was the only one who was able to master surfing quicker than the others but he still had a little bit of trouble with his balance. It wasn't until the sun had started to set that they packed up their things and started to leave.

"I'm surprised Billy let us stay that long. I don't think he mentioned anything about school once," Melody commented as Rocky pulled his jeep into her driveway. She pushed open the door and jumped down. "Unfortunately not I'm going to get interrogated by Dad and grilled by Mom. It's something I _love_ to look forward to," she stated sarcastically once her eyes rested on the partially parted curtains of the front window.

"Sorry about that. I could come in and explain if you want," Rocky said as he pulled a face.

"Nah, I don't want them to kill you a few weeks after we get here. I'm going to make them wait a few more weeks and _then_ I'll let them kill you." She smiled.

"Oh you're hilarious." Rocky rolled his eyes. "Do you need a ride tomorrow."

"Thanks, I'll be ready around 7:15."

"Ok, see you then." Rocky watched her as she ran up the small set of stairs to her door and disappeared into the house. Chuckling to himself he backed out of the driveway and drove the rest of the way to his home. He parked the car in the driveway, too lazy to pull it all the way into the garage, and walked into the house. "Momma, I'm home," he called as he closed the door behind himself and dropped his keys into the little bowl by his hand.

"Where have you been Rockwell? I had to keep dinner warm and you know how hard that is," Rosalie DeSantos said as she met him in the living room, drying her hands with a towel.

"I know Momma and I'm sorry." He swopped down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "The guys and I spent the day at the beach and we lost track of time. We needed a break from studying." He dropped his backpack on the couch and followed her into the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

"Hmm, I whipped up some pork chops, potatoes, and broccoli." Rosalie smiled when Rocky made a face at the name of the vegetable.

"Can I eat in my room?" He asked.

"So you can find a way to hide your vegetables? No way _mi hijo__,_" she replied lightly slapping him on the stomach and he groaned.

"Oh, Rocky, I'm glad you're home. I was hoping that you'd be able to help me get something out of the closet," his father, Daniel DeSantos, said as he walked into the living room.

"Sure." Rocky followed his father out of the living room, into the foyer, and up the stairs before following him into the closet of his parents' room. "What is it you need?"

"That box up there," Daniel replied, pointing to the red box.

Rocky stepped forward and stood on his tiptoes slightly. As he pulled the box out another one fell to the ground, the lid popped open and a few envelopes slid out. "Sorry about that, Pop," he apologized holding out the red box.

"That's ok, son," Daniel said in a distracted tone as he lifted the lid and walked out of the room looking at the contacts of the box.

Rocky knelt and began picking up the envelopes and pit them back into the box. He stopped when one caught his eye. He could've sworn he saw his name. he held the envelope in his hand and got a good look at it. It was addressed to Melody. He frowned. _Why is a letter to Melody in this box?_ He slowly reached for the box, turned it over, and lifted the lid all the way before he gasped.

Letters filled the box almost to the brim. Most of them were addressed to Melody but some of them were addressed to him as well. He stared at the; letters as if expecting them to disappear as if he were waking up from a bad dream, but they weren't going anywhere. They were still there, looking at him, as if taunting him.

"Rockwell, I thought you were…oh no." Rocky's head shot up when he heard his mother's voice. She was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide holding fear on her otherwise emotionless face. "Rockwell, listen–"

"Momma, why…why do you have all of my letters?" Rocky asked, slowly standing, never taking his eyes off of her.


	8. Speculations

**Chapter 7:**

_Speculations

* * *

_

"Momma, why…why do you have all of my letters?" Rocky asked, slowly standing, never taking his eyes off of her.

"You weren't supposed to see that," Rosalie sighed, running a hand through her rich, dark hair. "Rockwell, listen, I did this for your own good."

"For my own good?" Rocky repeated scoffing a bit in shock. "Momma, you…." he let out a breath and shook his head. "Do you know what this did to Mellie? Or to me? Momma, I thought she _hated_ me. I thought that was why she never talked to me. How…why…?" He couldn't even form a sentence as he stared at his mother in shock._'All this time she made me think that Melody hated me. All this time she sat back and watched as our friendship crumbled…' _He flinched when he felt Rosalie's hand on his arm. "Don't," he muttered. "Don't touch me, Momma."

"Rockwell, I'm so sorry. Please, if you'd just give me some time to explain–"

"Explain _what_?" He snapped, glaring at her. "Explain how you have the fucking audacity to interfere in my life? Explain how you went and screwed up my friendship with my best friend? Explain how you sat there and lied to me for _years_. Go ahead, Momma, I'd _love_ to hear what you have to say."

"Don't you _dare _talk to me like that, Rockwell," she hissed, tears streaming down her face. "I may have done some wrong things but I'm still your mother and you're still my son."

"My _mother_ wouldn't do this to me." Rocky shook his head and walked out of the room, leaving Rosalie behind. She let out a shaky breath and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Rocky felt numb. This was too much for him. He couldn't even wrap his head around what just happened. The only thing that kept repeating in his mind was that his mother was the reason for his messed up friendship. Then a thought dawned on him. Was his father in on it too? That would about kill him if his dad had anything to do with it.

_Does Mellie know?_ Rocky shook his head at his own thought. _Of course she doesn't know, she thinks I just forgot about her,_ he thought glumly. He dropped onto his bed and grabbed the phone that was by his head, pressing a button on his speed dial list. He let out a sigh right when someone picked up the other line.

"Ugh. Whoever this is you can take your disgusting self and– " Aisha barked.

"'Sha, it's me," Rocky said into the line.

"Rocky? What's up? Why're you breathin' funny?"

"I, uh, ran to the phone. I need to talk to you about something important. Are you buys?"

"No."

"Ok, can you call up Adam and meet me at the park?"

"Sure, Rocky, but wha–?"

He hung up before she could ask him anything. He didn't have all the answers yet.

* * *

"What is this so called great plan of yours, Zeddy?" Rita asked as she filed her nails. She was bored. She and Zedd have been sittig around for days on end not doing anything to hurt the Power Rangers or even divert their concentration. And Rita got restless easily.

"I _told you,_ I must make sure it is where it is before I tell you my plan and ruin it like you always seem to do," Zedd replied, rubbing his temples.

"Like _I_ always do? Whose idea was it to make a Putty have their chest as a weak spot?"

"So that was a minor setback, I can make mistakes," Zedd growled before chuckling evily. "But with this new plan there won't be any room for mistakes, especially on our part."

* * *

"What!" Aisha gasped. "No way."

"That doesn't sound like something your mother would do, though," Adam said slowly, rubbing his chin. "She must have some reasoning behind it."

"Something she won't tell me," Rocky agreed, leaning back against the trunk of the tree that was behind him. He lightly kicked at the ground. "I just didn't think my mom was capable of doing anything that would hurt me like this."

"Like Adam said, I don't think she meant to hurt you, on purpose either. Your mother loves you," Aisha said. She paused. "But it _is_ weird. Didn't you say once that your mother hated Melody?"

"Yeah," Rocky replied, not understanding where she was going with her question.

"Does she have a reason for hating Melody once more? Why didn't she like Melody in the first place?"

"I don't know." Rocky shrugged. "That's something that I never understood. I mean, Mellie's a sweet girl. She can be loud and obnoxious sometimes but otherwise…"

"She has to have a reason," Adam reiterated.

"I know, I'm just afraid of what it is," he admitted.

* * *

Rocky didn't get to sleep that night. He couldn't stop thinking about what his mother did or why she did it. He couldn't come up with a good answer, a good reason as to why she wanted to mess up his life deliberately. He let out a breath. He knew he shouldn't focus on the past, there was no point, really. Nothing he could do would change it but he couldn't help but get frustrated when he thought of all for the birthdays they missed, the holidays, Halloween, New Years, everything and anything in between.

He didn't know her anymore. Did the same things make her tick now? Did she like field hockey? Ice skating? All those things she hated before? It's like she's a different person now even though she was the same.

By the time he actually fell asleep he had to wake back up in a couple of hours to finish setting up for the dance which was, finally, that weekend. Rocky was excited for it but he wished it was over with all ready. His mother was trying to set him up with some girl he wasn't interested in but she wasn't listening to him. He's been desperately trying to find someone at school to grow with instead but he hasn't found anyone yet. He wanted to ask Melody for sake of being comfortable around someone, but he remembered that she wasn't the dancing type of person which left his options limited.

"So you can help me put up the rest of the streamers," Kim told Rocky. He nodded and stifled a yawn, following her across the gym where a box of streamers was sitting next to a ladder. "Are you ok? You don't look so well."

"I didn't really get any sleep last night," Rocky replied, yawning.

"Oh? Why not?"

"Well," he dropped his voice. "I kind of found something in my mom's closet."

Kim looked down at him from the ladder. "Oh, well then I think you should talk to your mother about that. There's nothing to be embarrassed about, I mean your parents _are_ human and–"

"Whoa!" Rocky covered his ears. "Ew! That's not what I'm talking about!" Kim laughed as a light blush came to his face. He dropped his hands and held onto the ladder. "I mean, I found a box in my mom's closet filled with letters."

"So?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They were all of the letters I've sent Mellie over the years," he continued. She lifted both eyebrows now. "All of them. The ones that did managed to get a reply she kept as well." Anger started to rise in him once more. "I don't understand _why_ she did it though. I…I just don't."

"While I think that taling someone's mail is wrong I also believe that she had a reason," Kim said slowly.

"Well, Momma didn't like Mel at first but after a while she grew on her so I don't think that's it." He sighed. "I'm just…so hurt and confused. I want to talk to her about it but…I'm afraid I'd just yell at her I'm so angry."

"Have you talked to Melody about this?" Kim asked, hanging a streamer.

"No." He shook his head. "I don't know who I can bring it up. I mean, she and I both thought…well, I guess it doesn't matter now that she's _here_ but…" He was more talking to himself than he was to her.

"You should ask her to the homecoming dance," Kim said as she reached for the streamers that Rocky held out to her. That jarred him out of his thoughts.

"Who?" he questioned.

wached for the streamers that r."s the guys stopped and stared at her. " nd followed her over to a . "rly in the morni"Melody," Kim replied.

Rocky snorted. "Mellie would laugh me out of the school if I asked her."

"How do you know?"

"'Cause she's…Mellie. She found every reason she could to laugh at me when we were growing up. I'm telling you she wouldn't go with me."

"She likes to dance though."

"But she doesn't like to dress up." Kim looked down at Rocky and squinted. "What?"

"What are you so afraid of?" she finally questioned.

"I'm not afraid of anything. I just don't want to…"

"Don't want to what? You could use this as a chance to tell her what you found out."

Rocky shook his head but didn't say anything. "Besides," he finally spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "It looks like she all ready has someone else in mind," he grumbled.

Kim followed his gaze and her eyes rested on Jason and Melody who were laughing as they blew up balloons in the corner. "Did she ask him?"

"Not that I know of."

"Did he ask her?"

"I don't think so"

"So what's stopping you? She's not going with anyone else and she won't if you don't keep waiting around."

"Jason will ask her."

"He'll ask Trini."

"Trini's going with Billy."

"What!" Kim shrieked, whipping around. Her voice echoed across the gym and everyone turned to look at her. "Sorry." She turned back to Rocky "When did this happen?"

"This morning. If you weren't late you would have known."

"Ugh, I wasn't then one late Tommy was late for picking me up," Kim groaned. "You have nothing to worry about. Jason won't ask her."

"How do you know?"

"He won't, I can tell."

"What if you're wrong?"

"Since when is Rocky DeSantos a pessimist?" She asked with a teasing smile.

"Since I figured out Momma lied to me." He knew he should forgive her, he's never truly been mad at her, but she crossed the line this time. He was allowed to be angry, right? The others may not understand but this was hard for him. He and his mother have been close for years, never have they kept anything from each other until now.

"Hey Space Cadet, I asked if you wanted to get something to eat before class," Melody said, lightly hitting Rocky in the side. He blinked and looked at her. She lifted an eyebrow. "Didn't sleep?" She guessed.

"How'd you know?" He asked.

"You never got that spacey unless you couldn't sleep and when you couldn't sleep something had to have been on your mind to _keep_ you from sleeping," she replied as if it were common knowledge. "Come on, I'm starving."

"Since when do those words come out of _your_ mouth?" Rocky asked. "Hey Kim, is it ok if we split?"

"Sure, I'm sure you two have some _things _you want to talk about," she replied, staring at him hard. He nodded, waved by to everyone and led her out of the Youth Center to his jeep.

"Where to?" He asked.

"Doesn't matter," she replied, getting in the other side. He nodded, buckled himself, waited until she was buckled, and backed out of his parking space. He kept his eyes on the road the entire time but he could feel Melody's eyes burning holes into the side of his head. He pulled into the parking lot of a nearby diner and moved to pull the keys out of the ignition but Melody stopped him. "I know what's going on so you might as well tell me," she stated once Rocky looked at her. He could tell by the fierce look in her eyes that she wasn't kidding around.

"Who told you?" He asked, leaning back in his seat.

"Aisha," she replied. "What I want to know is why didn't you talk to me about it first? I mean, it has to deal with me in a somewhat sorta indirect way…"

"I just…I didn't know how to bring it up," he replied, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I mean, this entire time I thought…"

"I forgot about you?" She filled in. It still freaked him out how she could read his mind.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"Pebbles, even when we didn't talk I always had this small hope that something was stopping you from writing me," she explained, not looking at him. "Something against your control. But…why did she keep your letters? I didn't think she still hated me."

"That's what doesn't make any sense to me," Rocky admitted. Then he blushed. "She was trying to explain it to me but…"

"You ran away?" She asked. He nodded. "Geeze, Rocky–"

"I know, I know. I just…I didn't want to hear the truth, whatever it was," he grumbled. He paused. "Did you just call me Pebbles?"

"Yeah, why?" She questioned.

"You haven't called me that since you got here. Why the sudden change?"

"So I decided to forgive you, what, am I not allowed to forgive someone?" She grumbled, turning to look out the window.

"Nooo….I think you missed me," he said with a smile.

"I think you're a little touched in the head," she shot back then glanced at her watch. "We're going to be late."

"I'm not leaving until you say you've missed me."

"Then we're going to be here for a while. My dad doesn't really care if I'm late as long as I have a good reason. Once I tell him you're holding me hostage he's going to coe looking for you to kill you and I'd be off the hook of being late in the first place," she explained, looking at her fingernails.

"Huh, somehow I thought you'd grow out of always getting your way."

"Not a chance, buddy." She turned to Rocky when he didn't move the car. "Are you hungry, by any chance?"

He smiled sheepishly and pushed open his door. "I'll be back in a second."

Melody rolled her eyes.

"Man, we are _so_ late. My dad is going to hit the roof," Melody muttered as Rocky signed in at the front desk.

"Relax, I'll just say I got a flat tire," Rocky said as he handed the pen and pad back to the receptionist and they started their walk down the front hall of the school. "Problem solved."

"Problem _not_ solved. He'll expect to see a flat in the tire and _you're_ the one driving me home."

"So get Tommy to drive you home. If worse comes to worse I'll take the blame. Your parents love me."

"That's a comfort," she muttered sarcastically.

"Mellie–"

Rocky stopped when Melody gasped. Rocky shot his head up and gasped as well when he saw what it was she was looking at down the hall. At the end of the hall Putties were moving about, dancing wildly, their red eyes locked on the teenagers.

"Putties in school?" Rocky muttered. "Ah man, what're Rita and Zedd up to?"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. School really got in the way. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please read and review. And my friend is stupid 'cause she used my own account to review my story...weird...  
**


	9. Red to Red

**Chapter 8:**

_Red to Red

* * *

_

Rocky's eyes darted around as he tried to find a way to get the Putties out of there without drawing attention to themselves. The last thing they needed was a detention for something he wouldn't really be able to explain.

"Since when do they attack a _school_?" Melody questioned, her hands clenched into fists and held out in front of her.

"I didn't think they were smart enough to," Rocky replied, keeping his hands up in front of himself. "We're late for class anyway, might as well take care of them to make sure no one gets hurt."

"Oh, good, I thought you were actually going to suggest we go to class," Melody said happily before slipping off her backpack and throwing it at the Putties. It knocked a couple of them over giving her enough time to run at them and send a kick to one of their heads. Rocky quickly joined the fray, throwing his backpack at one putty and jumping in the air to kick at another one. They successfully landed kick after kick, punch after punch on the putties.

_Something doesn't feel right. They're not even trying,_ Rocky though, punching a Putty in the Z on its chest. He closed his eyes briefly at the blinding white light that flashed before it broke apart and disappeared.

"Hey! Get off of me, Clay Face!" A metal clang grabbed his attention and he turned to see that a Putty was trying to shove Melody into a locker.

"Excuse me," Rocky said as he tapped the Putty on the shoulder. The Putty turned around, dropping his guard. Rocky grabbed the frame of the metal door and hit the Putty in the face. It stumbled backward and Rocky side-kicked it in the chest, causing it to disappear. "Need a hand?" He asked with a grin, sticking out his hand.

"You're still not funny," Melody complained, allowing him to pull her out of the locker. "Geeze, what a way to start the day. Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think Putties were smart enough to attack during the school day. They only seemed to attack after school or on weekends from what I've heard."

"You're right, they never attack during the day," Rocky agreed, talking more to himself than to her.

"You know what I just noticed," Melody suddenly spoke up. "The Putties always seem to show up wherever you guys are."

Rocky stiffened. "Yeah, that's a, uh, funny coincidence."

"Well, why do you think that is?"

Before Rocky could reply the bell rang, cutting sharply into the air. "Oh, look at that, time for class. Might want to run there, don't want to be late after all," Rocky said quickly as he backed away from Melody who was looking at him as if he were crazy. "I'll talk to you after class? At lunch? Lunch is good with me too, bye!" He grabbed his backpack and ran around the corner as the hallways filled with students.

Rocky shoved through the crowd, trying to find his friends to tell them what had happened. He spotted Jason and Trini by their lockers talking quickly. Rocky ran over to them, almost knocking them over in the process once he got there.

"Whoa, man, where's the fire?" Jason asked, steadying the boy.

"Putties…here…attacked…" Rocky panted, doubled over, his hands on his kness.

"What? Are you sure?" Trini asked with wide eyes.

Rocky nodded, still trying to get his breath back. "Right after I signed in some Putties appeared in the halls. Melody and I got rid of them pretty easily, though."

"They attacked…_during_ school?" Jason repeated and Rocky nodded. "Ok, we'll meet up at lunch and talk this over, figure out what to do. In the meantime don't let on that something is wrong but also keep your guard up. We don't know what Rita and Zedd have planned nowadays."

"Jason, acting like you're the leader again," Trini said with a smile. Jason returned the smile although it seemed, to Rocky, tight in the corners, as if he didn't want to be reminded of his Ranger past. Or maybe didn't want to be reminded that he was replaced… "Well, I gotta go or I'll be late for AP Chemistry. See you guys later." She gave them a small wave and walked off.

"Is there something you wanted?" Jason asked Rocky, lifting an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, uh are you free right now?" Rocky questioned, watching Jason put books into his locker. He couldn't help but notice that Jason's muscles were significantly bigger than his own. Rocky felt slightly scared being in his presences. He shook his head thinking. _Knock it off, Rocks, you're overreacting._

"I am actually. Why, you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah, just some stuff. You know, Red Ranger to Red Ranger."

Jason gave a crooked smile. "Sure man, let's go outside. I'd like to have some natural light on my face for once." Rocky let out a nervous chuckle and followed the original Red out of the school to the tables that were stationed outside. Jason dropped a few books on the table, opened one up as well as a notebook and started writing a bit before asking, "What did you want to talk about?" without looking up.

Rocky hesitated. "I have been thinking…about our powers," he replied finally. "Zordon hasn't really said anything about your return; although I'm sure he's really happy about it. It just had me wondering about the power transfer."

Jason put his pen down and looked at Rocky, an unreadable look was in his eyes. "Rocky, we gave up our powers for a reason. I'm not just going to come waltzing back here and asking for them back."

Rocky let out a huge sigh. "I'll admit I'm relieved to hear that but at the same time I kinda wish that you could take them back."

Jason blinked. "Why?"

"I just…" Rocky hesitated, looking around at anything other than the other Red. "I think that one day I'm going to make a big mistake…and it scares me. Like, I'm in way over my head on this. I can't help but think one day this is all going to come crashing down on us."

Jason tapped his pen on his paper before saying slowly, "That's normal, we've all had those thoughts one day or another. The important things is that you shouldn't dwell on that thought, you should just welcome it if it happens. We've gone through some bad things and we made it out fine, as long as you believe in yourself and believe in the power you can do anything."

Rocky cracked a smile. "You're starting to sound like Tommy."

"There was a reason he became the leader, we needed an optimist," Jason commented. Either he was imagining it or Rocky could hear some bitterness in Jason's voice, but that was absurd. Jason and Tommy were friends, best friends, and they were always happy for each other weren't they? "By any chance is your concerned stemmed off from whatever's going on at your home?"

"Who told you?"

"Kim did. That's one thing you have to learn being a Power Ranger, we can't keep secrets from each other. You can try but we always find out." He placed his pen in his book and closed it, marking his spot, knowing that he wouldn't get much work done even if he tried. "What's this I hear about letters?"

Rocky explained how he had found his letters in the back of his mother's closet and how he was upset at her and confused about why she kept them. Jason stayed quiet, listening as Rocky continued to talk, suddenly overcome with so much emotion that everything came out in a rush.

"Wow," Jason muttered once Rocky finished.

"Wow? That's all you have to say?" Rocky demanded.

"That's all I _can_ say, really. I don't know the whole story, _you_ don't even know the whole story so it's not like I can jump to a conclusion. The only thing I have to say is try to keep your personal life and your ranger life separate or else you're not going to have your head in the right place."

Rocky rubbed his temples. "Easier said than done."

"It gets easier with time."

"Well, what about you?" Rocky asked. Jason lifted an eyebrow. "I imagine life would be boring after leaving the high paced life of being a Ranger."

Jason shrugged. "I have to admit I like it better this way. Now I don't have to worry about getting my homework done or feeding my mother a lie every time I'm late or I have to go away for a couple of days. I can finally be normal again, like…going to a dance without having to worry about leaving my date."

Rocky let out a slow breath. "I'm glad you brought that up, actually. I was just wondering if you were planning on asking Melody to the dance."

"Why?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"Just wondering."

"There's always a hint of curiosity behind every just wondering." _Geeze, the guy's doesn't like to beat around the bush,_ Rocky noted. "Do you _not_ want me to ask her or something?"

Rocky shook his head. "No, no no no, not at all, ask her if you want, I don't care."

"Rocky, I know you guys are good friends and I understand that your role in her life is to be like the big brother. Trust me, I'm the same way with Kim and Trini, but I'm not going to hurt her if that's what you're worried about…_if_ I decide to ask her." Jason grinned. He could tell he had Rocky squirming on the inside and it was too much fun messing with the Red's mind, like an initiation to the position. He suddenly turned his attention back to his book. "Do you know anything about this History homework?"

* * *

"Ok, we're all here," Aisha noted as Kimberly plopped down in her seat. "Now you can tell us what's going on. I've been dying to figure out what Trini was talking about earlier."

"Something happened?" Kimberly asked suddenly alert. "Is anyone hurt?"

"No, no one's hurt," Jason replied. He paused and looked around the cafeteria. "Where's Melody?"

"Studying the library," Rocky replied. "We're fine, no one will overhear us."

"Ok, so what happened?" Kimberly demanded.

"Basically, as soon as I set foot in school this morning Putties attacked," Rocky announced. Kimberly gasped and Tommy and Billy exchanged looks of surprised. "We got rid of them fast," Rocky continued, "but it still bothers me that they attacked during school hours. I mean, Rita and Zedd can't be that smart. I mean, it took them _this long_ to think of it."

"We can't exactly rule out that possibility, though," Billy spoke up. "The Puttes attacked the beginning of the day so it's not like they attacked…now, for example."

"They could be trying to tell us that they're willing to attack day or night," Zack commented.

"They haven't been that smart before, what would make them realize it now?" Tommy muttered more to himself than to the others. "This sounds too weird."

"Weren't we just talking about how they weren't doing anything? What happened to that?" Adam questioned.

"Maybe they were waiting for the perfect moment to strike when our attention and thoughts were put on more pressing matters," Billy suggested. The other slowly nodded as his comment sunk into their brains. "They waited for an elongated period of time for us to preoccupy ourselves. It's a perfect contrivance, really."

"Kun-tree-vince?" Rocky repeated slowly.

"Plan," Trini translated. "But still, something about this doesn't feel right. It seemed as if the Putties came by themselves."

"Or maybe this is what they _want_ us to think," Tommy interrupted. They all turned to look at him. "Think about it, we don't know if the Putties came by themselves or if they were sent or whatever. But what if this is what they _want_ us to argue over? Then we'll pay more attention to _that_ instead of pay attention to whatever it is they're planning."

"But don't you think Zordon and Alpha would've contacted us if they _were_ up to something?" Kimberly pointed out.

"Alpha, have you got any news on Rita and Zordon recently?" Tommy spoke into his Communicator.

"Not lately, Tommy. But we will keep you all posted."

"Thanks Alpha, over and out." Tommy put down his arm and looked at the others who looked back at him in grim silence. "Well, I guess there's nothing else we can do. We just…have to be ready at all times. Ready to deal with any punishment we might get whether we have to leave school or leave our homes in the middle of the night." He looked at them all to make sure they were up to the responsibility. Their faces reflected what was in their eyes: they were ready for the worst.


	10. The Dance Part I

**Chapter 9:**

_The Dance Part 1

* * *

_

"How much longer do we have to wait to attack these Power Brats?" Rita demanded, tapping her fingers against her crossed arms. She was pacing rapidly as Zedd watched her, sitting in his chair. He let out a frustrated breath as she continued. "We threw one monster at them and they tied him up like a knot! Then you send putties to their school for _what_? Stoney and that Harmony girl got rid of them easily. And _now_ we're not doing anything! What plan is this?"

"Quiet, Motormouth! If you actually kept that trap shut long enough to listen to anyone but yourself you'll understand that my plan is in perfect motion," Zedd replied, his grip on his staff tightening slightly as he imagined it was Rita's neck.

"What _brilliant_ plan is it, then?" Rita demanded.

"If you haven't noticed yet, Cone Ears, I have the Rangers doubting what we have planned next. They're close to turning against each other," Zedd said gleefully. "And while I have them where I want them I can continue my search."

"Your search for what, Boss?" Goldar asked in his gravelly voice.

"The ultimate weapon against the Power Rangers that should defeat them and this Earth once and for all!"

"While we wait 1000 more years for that I think I'll have some fun," Rita said, turning to her telescope.

* * *

"The Dance is here, finally!" Kim said happily, clasping her hands together at the sight of the Homecoming banner that hung up in the main entrance of the school the next day. She bounced on her toes in happiness, her eyes darting over the multicolored words that practically screamed excitement. "Ooh, I can't wait to pick up my dress after school. You guys have to see it, it's so rad!" She said, turning to Aisha and Trini.

"We can see it while I get my dress. I haven't picked it out yet," Aisha told her.

"What? You haven't picked out your dress yet!" Kim repeated, eyes wide with shock. "Well have no fear. You're asking the right person to help you out."

"I never asked," Aisha pointed out, laughing.

"Well, I'm coming and helping anyway," Kim said, giving her a little squeeze. "You too, if you haven't picked out your dress yet," she added, turning to Trini. "I can find you one so hot that it'll fog up Billy's glasses." She giggled.

Trini smiled. "Let's not go that far. Billy and I are just friends."

"Where have I heard _that_ before?" Kim asked with a teasing grin. Trini looked at her in confusion. "That always seems to come out of your mouth whenever Jason's involved." Trini rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as Kim smiled. She could tell that the two liked each other, she knew they liked each other since Junior High, Every time she got a chance she made fun of Trini to try and provoke her into spilling about her crush but she's always denied it and it's been getting on Kim's nerves. She knows she's close to getting Trini to crack but the wait was unbearable for her. "I don't know why you're making this so hard."

"I don't know why you're stuck on a topic that's nonexistent," Trini shot back.

"I don't know, girl, he looks at you in a special way. Kinda like the way Tommy looks at Kim," Aisha said with a grin.

"Did somebody say my name?" Tommy asked, walking over to the girls. He swooped down. pressing a kiss to Kim's cheek, and gave her the flowers he had behind her back. "Morning, Beautiful."

"Oh Tommy, these are beautiful!" Kim gushed, returning his kiss and giving him a hug.

"So, about the dance tonight. I'll pick you up at 7?" He asked.

Kim blinked. "We're going together?"

Tommy's eyebrows lowered. "Of course."

"Well…" Kimberly messed with the petals on her flowers. "You didn't ask me so I didn't think we were going together. I agreed to go with Skull." She lowered her head and bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Tommy looked at her in confusion. "Skull? But…I thought…I didn't think I needed to ask you. I assumed we were going together anyway."

Kim couldn't stand hearing the sadness in his voice. She lifted her head, lightly hit him on the arm and laughed. "I was just kidding! There's no _way_ I'd ever go to a dance with Skull! I was just teaching you a lesson for not asking me earlier." Tommy let out a sigh of relief. "Seven's fine," she clarified. "That will give my mom enough time to get her camera ready and to get over her tears of joy." They laughed.

"It's not like this is Prom," Aisha pointed out.

"Well, my mom was so into gymnastics when she was younger that she missed out on Homecoming and Prom," Kim explained.

"So that's why you got into gymnastics."

"Mhm. I saw pictures of my mom when she was younger and I always thought it was cool so I gave it a shot." She shrugged modestly, putting her flowers into her locker, and followed them to the homeroom class. She saw Rocky and Zack sitting in their chairs as she moved to sit in hers. Billy came into the room a few seconds after them with Adam in toe. A few minutes later Jason and Melody came into the room.

"Hey, where were you this morning? I stopped by to see if you needed a ride but your dad said you all ready left," Kim said as Melody sat down in her chair.

"I went running earlier then I stopped by the Youth Center to shower and then walked here," she replied, pulling her hair out of the ponytail. "I needed the time to try and run off my nerves."

"Nerves?" She repeated.

"Yeah, I have a History project due today that I'm worried about."

"What's the topic?" Aisha asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"Women and Martial Arts," Melody replied. "We got to choose topics and I chose that 'because I figured I'd be able to get your guys to help demonstrate some moves in class." She looked at them with wide eyes, silently begging them.

"No need for the Puppy Dog act, we're in," Kim said, lightly hitting her arm. "You'll get an easy A with our help."

"Thanks so much," Melody sighed. "That took a load off of my mind."

"So, who're you going to the dance with?" Trini asked.

"I'm not going," Melody replied. She jumped when Aisha, Kim, and Trini all let out sounds of surprise. She turned to look at them as if they were crazy. "It's just a dance, it's not like my world's going to end if I don't go. Besides, I don't like the idea of dressing up for hours on end when the only thing that's going to happen is my hair is going to fall back into its normal position and my makeup will be off in the first hour."

"But dances are so much fun!" Kim protested. "And you _are_ a dancer."

"Or is it because you didn't get asked?" Aisha asked.

"It's ok if you didn't get asked; boys shouldn't dictate your life. You can come with us," Trini added.

"I never said I didn't get asked," Melody pointed out. She instantly regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. Kim, Aisha, and Trini hung onto those words like vultures circling a dead carcass in the desert.

"Who asked you?" Kim asked, eagerly. Melody stayed silent. "You might as well tell me. I'm going to figure it out soon anyway."

"Wait, Rocky asked you right?" Aisha questioned. "He kept telling me how he wanted to ask you but he was afraid you were going to laugh at him. He asked you, didn't he?"

"Uh, no," Melody said as she made a face. "Ugh, that'd be weird. No, Jason asked me."

"JASON!" Trini, Kim, and Aisha yelled in unison. Everyone's conversations stopped and they turned to look at the girls. Kim laughed nervously as she slumped in her seat. She caught Jason's eye and he lifted an eyebrow. She shrugged and mouthed 'we need to talk later'. He must've known what she wanted to talk about because he nodded and turned his attention back to Zack who was talking about his plans with Angela that night.

"Jason?" Aisha repeated. "When did this happen?"

"Does it matter? I didn't say yes," Melody muttered.

"So you said no?"

"I didn't say that either."

"What _did_ you say?" Trini pressed.

"I said I'd think about it. Can we just drop it?" Melody demanded.

"No!" The girls replied.

"We're going to the mall after school. Come with us and we can talk about this some more," Kim urged.

"I don't like shopping," Melody replied. _Geeze, these girls really don't know when to leave something alone. _All Melody really wanted to do was go home and watch TV or maybe read and then go straight to sleep. She didn't want to deal with the inevitable drama that would surely come with the dance.

"You don't have to shop, just come with us," Kim begged. _And we can convince you to get a dress while you're there…_ she thought gleefully. "It'll be fun; you haven't seen all of the cool things in the Mall yet."

Melody looked at Aisha. "I'm in a losing battle, aren't I?"

She nodded. "You can never win against Kim. We can go after stopping by Ernie's for a smoothie."

Melody sighed. "Fine."

"Yes!" Kim cheered and clasped her hands together.

* * *

Rocky yawned for the seventh time in five minutes. Last night was a nightmare for him. As soon as he got home after playing some basketball with Adam he was met by his mother yelling at him in Spanish. The only time she did that was when she was really upset at him, but he couldn't fathom why. Really, he was the one who had the right to be angry; he still hadn't forgiven her for keeping his letters. He had spent hours fighting against her but his words fell on death ears.

To make matters worse he had gotten a call from Adam telling him that Jason had asked Melody to the dance after all. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. They were just friends; she's told him that millions of times but still it messed with something in his head. So much that he couldn't get to sleep that well the night before and he was now suffering for it.

"roc….rocky….Rocky…ROCKY!"

Rocky jerked and shot his head up, shouting something incoherent. He then looked around and noticed that he and Adam were the only ones left in the classroom. Rubbing his eyes he let out another yawn and grabbed his backpack.

"What's going on, man? You've been out of it all morning," Adam commented as they walked into the hallway.

"I know, this lack of sleep's getting to me," Rocky muttered. "I didn't even finish breakfast this morning. I _slept_ through it."

"Whoa. Rocky DeSantos _slept_ through a meal?" Adam asked in shock. "Something must be on your mind. You still haven't talked to your mother, have you?" Rocky shook his head. "The only way this can be solved is if you talk to her."

"I don't want to worry about it tonight. I just want to get through the dance. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow," Rocky replied, spinning the dial on his locker and pulling it open.

Adam hesitated as he studied the side of his friend's face. Rocky's usually bright eyes were dull and unfocused. He was moving slowly and he wasn't his upbeat self. It was like a whole other Rocky was standing in his place, a battered and broken one, and it scared Adam. He put a hand on Rocky's shoulder. Rocky turned his head and looked at Adam. Without saying anything Adam said to Rocky that he was there for him. Rocky sighed and nodded.

"C'mon man, I'll buy you a Coke. Something tells me you're going to need the caffeine."

"Thanks man. I'll pay you back."

"Oh if I had a nickel every time I heard you say that…"

* * *

"What're we going to do now? Our last plan to lure the Power Rangers to us didn't exactly work, Bulkie," Skull commented as the two trudged down the school hallways.

"The brat got into the way, but don't worry I have another idea cooking, Skull," Bulk replied. "The Power Rangers don't hesitate to help out and protect us civilians. So why don't we bring some trouble to the dance? That will bring the Power Rangers to us and we can finally figure out their true identities!"

"Ohhhh!" Skull let out, chomping on a piece of gum. "But wait…where are we going to get a monster?"

"If we can't find one…we'll _make_ one," Bulk replied with a grin.

* * *

Rocky took a bite out of his sandwich as he listened to Melody explain how her History presentation went but he wasn't really paying attention to her. His eyes were locked on Tommy and Jason who were using their lunch period to get another spar session in as Billy and Adam watched.

Rocky sighed and put down his sandwich. He couldn't concentrate on food, not when the Great Original Red Ranger was standing right in front of him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched whenever he went fighting. Before he didn't mind the idea of being Jason's replacement but now that he was back he felt like he had to prove himself. But look what he had to fight against! Jason was a better fighter, calmer; he didn't run into situations or make a fool of himself like Rocky does. Rocky had to learn hard lessons while being a ranger. From the stories that he's heard about the Original team Jason all ready knew how to be a leader and a second-in-command, it came naturally to him. Rocky had to work for it. How could he compete with that?

"And I was thinking about chopping off my hair and dying my scalp green," Melody commented.

"You'd get the same effect if you just dyed your hair," Rocky said, snapping to attention.

"Something tells me you weren't really listening to me," Melody said in suspicion.

"I was," Rocky denied. She lifted an eyebrow. "That…part…" She rolled her eyes and he smiled a bit, stealing a French fry from his plate. "Sorry, I was thinking about the math test that stands between me and freedom."

"Prob and Stats?" Kim asked. He nodded. "You'll be fine. Billy took that class in sophomore year. He said it was a breeze."

"If you've forgotten Billy's a genius," Rocky said with an eye roll. "And I'm–"

"Not?" Melody interrupted.

"Thanks for that boost in self-esteem," he said sarcastically, lightly nudging her with his elbow. She smiled and stuck out her tongue and he returned the gesture. "I didn't get a chance to study and I never really got a good night's sleep either."

"What happened?" Aisha asked in concern.

"I got into a little fight with my mom, no big deal," he replied, shrugging. He could feel her eyes boring holes into his forehead. She was always able to read him really well; it was something that scared him so badly. He was never able to lie to her; she always knew when he was lying, even when he thought he had a good poker face.

"Why don't you just talk to her?" Trini asked.

"It's kinda complicated," Rocky replied. "Once you get her started it's hard to get her to stop." He sighed. "I'll be ok," he told them, noticing their looks of concern. "Things are just hectic 'cause of Homecoming and stuff. Once this weekend is over everything will be fine."

"I still can't believe Jason asked you," Aisha suddenly said to Melody, shaking her head a little. Rocky rolled his eyes, _Here we go again._

"I know!" Zack's loud voice announced his arrival. He placed a foot on the bench next to Trini and leaned forward. "I figured my man would go for someone…" his voice trailed off when Melody raised her eyebrows at him. "I mean…he's asking a great girl!" He flashed a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to go with him?" Rocky asked her, looking down at his plate.

"Still don't know," she replied. "I'm really not in the mood to go to this stupid dance but I know Kim won't leave me alone unless I do go."

"You got that right," Kim said with a little laugh. "You won't regret it. It'll be fun."

"You're still coming to the mall with us, right?" Trini asked.

"Yeah, but I can't go to Ernie's. I have to go home first to walk my dog but I'll meet you at the mall."

"You need a ride?" Rocky asked.

"No, J–"

"Let me guess, Jason's taking you," Rocky interrupted her, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have one." Rocky stood abruptly as the others started to make their way to the table. "I gotta go; I need to study a bit more."

"Pebbles–"

"I'll see you later." They all watched as he stomped his way through the crowd of students to get inside. He actually yelled "Watch where you're going, will ya?" to a couple of students that he ran into on his way inside.

"What's going on with him?" Tommy asked.

"Hard to speculate, I'm afraid," Billy replied, adjusting his glasses. "Could be the pressures of a class. Could be some troubles at home. Could be the stress of being a Ranger finally getting to him."

"We shouldn't let him go off by himself," Aisha said.

"I'll go talk to him," Kim announced, standing, stopping Melody in her tracks. She noticed the look on Melody's face. "I need to go to the library anyway," she announced to them all. "I'll see you in class." She kissed Tommy on the cheek and rushed after Rocky. She rushed into the school building and looked around. Teachers and students moved about the hallway, making it harder for her to find him. She checked the cafeteria, the school's Greenhouse, and a few teachers' classrooms. She finally found him pacing in front of his locker, his hands clenched into fists. "Rocky." He jerked, startled at her calling his name. He stopped pacing and looked at her. "What was that all about?" She asked.

"What?" He questioned, feigning innocence.

Kim sighed. "Rocky, sit down," she ordered as she sat herself. Rocky hesitated but sat down as well, wrapping his arms around his knees. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on in that head of yours. Does Jason being back bother you that much?"

"It's not that he's back that bothers me," Rocky muttered, tilting his head back slightly so it was resting against the cool metal of the lockers. "It's the thought of how much he's done is what bothers me," he admitted. "I mean, he was the leader of the Original Team. He's level headed, doesn't jump into situations that brings the rest of the team down. He's patient and calm and…everything I'm not. He might as well take his powers back; he's a hell of a better fighter than I am."

"You stop right there, Rocky DeSantos," Kim said in a stern tone. "Stop comparing yourself to Jason, you two are nothing alike. Sure you share the same power and the same fixation on the color red–"Rocky let out a little laugh "–but that's where the similarities lie. True, Jason is calm and level-headed, but that's what martial arts have taught him. He takes training very seriously; it's close to his heart. Sometimes he's so dedicated to it he doesn't know how to have fun and it gets on my nerves. You, however, put fun first and responsibilities second–"

"Thanks for that," Rocky muttered sarcastically.

"I'm not done," Kim said with a laugh, hitting him on the arm. "You love life and your willingness to jump into anything shows that. You do like to have fun but you know when you have to be serious and take responsibility, that's what being a ranger taught you."

"Great, it taught me to be responsible and have fun. That's it," Rocky muttered.

"Rockyyyy. There's more to it than that. You also put people before yourself; you're even willing to help me on a project when you have a massive amount of homework to do yourself. You love to help out wherever you can, which is often. So what if you're not the leader of the team? That doesn't matter, you're still a vital part of the team and we need you. You're not Jason, stop comparing yourself to him. We don't compare you guys; you two have different strengths and weaknesses that help balance the team. Jason doesn't want his powers back; he told me himself, he thinks you're doing a very good job."

"Really?" Rocky's eyes lit up. "He said that?"

"Yes," Kim giggled. "Now, this little burst of anger, by any chance, does it have to do with him asking Melody to the dance."

"A little," he admitted. "It's just…I haven't seen her in so long and I figured she'd want to spend time together like we used to but now she's spending all of her time with him."

"They're just _friends_, Rocky. She's allowed to be friends with other people."

"I know…it's just…"

"You gotta let her go sometime. We graduate soon and you're going to have to leave her behind."

Rocky covered his ears. "Ugh, don't even talk to me about graduation! I don't even want to _think_ about leaving."

"'Cause you're going to miss me, I know," Kim joked making Rocky laugh. "Are you all cheered up now, sour puss?"

"Not yet. I left my sandwich and I didn't eat breakfast," he commented rubbing his stomach.

"Is your mind always on food?"

"Of course not!" he paused. "Food's always on my mind."

Kim laughed.

* * *

"So what was with your freak out earlier today?" Melody asked, tilting her head to keep the phone by her neck. She reached down and scratched her dog behind the ears.

"Uh, just stress, that's all," Rocky replied on the other line.

"Really? 'Cause it seemed to me that you were, I don't know, bitter about something," she commented, grabbing a ball and throwing it. Her puppy chased after it and brought it back. "I have a feeling I know what it is, I just want to hear it come out of your mouth."

"Do I have to?" he whined like a little kid.

"Pebbles, I'm not dating Jason if that's what you're thinking. We're just friends, like I'm friends with Zack and Trini and Tommy and everyone else. Just 'cause he asked me to the dance doesn't mean I'm going to go. 'Sides, I always thought Homecoming was supposed to be in October, not September."

"What's another party before your sweet sixteen?"

"Pebbles, I _told_ you I don't want a party!" She glanced at her watch. "I gotta go. Kim's gonna be here in five."

"I still can't believe you, Melody Nicole Williams, Queen of All Things Boyish, is going to the _mall_," Rocky chuckled.

"Hey, there's no need for the name calling. You–" Melody stopped when she heard a loud bang from downstairs. "Hold on." She put her phone down on the desk and pulled open the door. She rushed to the railing of the mini balcony and looked down. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw her mother fall to the floor, hard. "Mom!" She yelled, running down the stairs. "I didn't know you were home. When did you get here?"

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs as if she got punched in the stomach. Her mother, Charlotte, scrambled to her feet. Melody's words fell on deaf ears as a crash sounded from the kitchen. Charlotte rushed into the direction of the kitchen.

"Lucas, stop this!" She heard Charlotte yell. "Lucas, no!"

A loud crash made Melody jump. She ran back up the stairs and grabbed her phone. "Rocky, listen, I'm going to have to call you back," she said breathlessly.

"Ok. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I gotta go!" She hung up the phone and ran back down stairs in time to see Lucas shove Charlotte to the ground. "Dad, what're you doing? Stop!" She yelled, rushing over to her parents. She grabbed Lucas's arm and tried to pull him away. He glanced at her and swung his arm out, shoving her into the wall. She let out a cry of pain when her back connected with the wall. Tears sprang to her eyes, partly from the pain and partly because of the fact that her dad had just hurt her.

She stared at her father in shock as he punched at the wall. Words of rage streamed out of his mouth, becoming one jumble of anger in her head. Faintly she could hear the honking of Kim's car. Melody glanced over at Charlotte who wiped the back of her mouth with her hand, a little spot of blood appearing on her otherwise milk, white skin.

"Go," Charlotte ordered. Melody couldn't move. "Go, honey. Leave; come back later when everything's settled down. Go!"

Melody jumped to her feet, grabbed her house key off the hook, and dashed out of the house. She looked back once as she ran down the stairs and met the girls in the driveway.

"Is everything ok? You look frazzled," Trini commented as Melody got into the backseat with Aisha.

"Everything's fine," Melody muttered. "Mom and Dad got into a little spat, that's all. They're, uh, making up right now." She made a face to make her act more believable and the other girls nodded in understanding as Kim backed out of the driveway.

"Ok, so the plan is to go by Pretty in Pink to get my dress and then we'll hit other storms to try and get dresses for Aisha and Trini," Kim called over the roaring wind. She glanced at Melody in the rearview mirror, silently begging with her eyes.

"Ok, ok, I'll go," Melody sighed. "Just stop looking at me like that."

"You mean it? You'll go?' Aisha asked excitedly.

"I guess. I'd rather not stay home with my parents," Melody responded.

"Great! We'll look for a dress for you as well. We can go straight to my house to get changed and meet up with the guys. You can borrow anything you need to. Ooh, this is going to be so exciting!" Kim cheered, throwing her arms into the air. She put her hands back onto the wheel when Trini gave her a stern look. "Wait, does this mean you're going to go with Jason?"

"Can we get the dress before I have to deal with that problem?" Melody sighed.

"Wait, why is it a problem?" Aisha questioned.

"Something tells me that Rocky won't be too happy knowing that I said yes to Jason."

"I talked to Rocky, everything's cleared up," Kim told her, looking in the rear-view mirror.

"Ok then. I guess I'm going with Jason." Melody tried to sound upbeat about it, she really did. She'd rather go to a dance at school with a friend than alone. She got what she wanted. She just couldn't erase the scene of horror from her mind and she didn't even think the dance would be able to put it in the backseat. What had made her father snap like that?

* * *

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review and, if you haven't read it yet, please check out my other story Fateful Friday. Thanks!**


	11. The Dance Part II

**Chapter 10:**

_The Dance Part 2

* * *

_

Tommy's eyes flickered over to Jason who had changed his hand position under the weights that Tommy was lifting when his phone rang. Tommy slowly lifted the barbell back onto the stand and sat up, nodding to Jason letting him know that he could answer his phone without Tommy getting hurt.

"How much are you pressing now, Tommy?" Rocky asked, leaning over the barbell.

"A little over 200," Tommy replied modestly, dabbing at his face with a towel. "I can't do it for long, though. My arms give out after five. I figured I could keep working my way up to the weight and then I can finally be able to handle it."

"Man, Tommy, with your work out regime you'll be able to win any martial arts tournament that's thrown your way," Adam commented, lightly hitting Tommy on the arm.

"I concur. Your offensive and defensive techniques have really improved and you can get yourself out of tough situations quickly. You would stand a good chance in a few martial arts competitions."

"Unless some people from Stone Canyon have been taking steroids or something," Zack joked. "But the only reason they'd do that is if they wanted to stand a chance against you or Jason." They laughed as Jason walked back over to them, unable to hide the smile that was forming on his face. "What's goin' on, man? You look like you won the lottery or something."

"Or something," Jason replied. "Uh, that was Melody. She said yes to going to Homecoming with me." He turned to Rocky. "That doesn't bother you, does it? 'Cause if it does I won't go with her. I mean, it's not like a date or anything, we're just going to hang out."

Rocky let out a slow breath. "If that's the case I don't have a reason for it to bother me. We're all going to hang out in a group anyway…" He let out a little smile. "So I'll be on the sides while you guys slow dance, so what? I'm not really a dancing person, to be honest. I'm just going for the free food." He rubbed his stomach at the thought. "This way I can get out of my parents hair for a night, too."

"Ok, so what's the plan for tonight? Meeting at Tommy's then going to Kim's to pick up the girls?" Adam asked.

"Sounds good to me. My mom will love fussing over you guys," Tommy said with a laugh. "You need to cut your hair!" He mimicked her, moving his ponytail over his shoulder. "Take out that earring," he continued, pointing to Jason. "Stand up straight," he told Zack. "Wipe that sly grin off your face," he said to Rocky. "Remember to say please and thank you," to Adam. "And for the love of God, would it kill you to shave a little?" He finished to Billy. They all laughed as Tommy sighed and shook his head. "She has good intentions, though," he clarified. "It's just funny to hear it over and over again. And now you boys get to experience it with me. Have fun."

"Hey, are you sure you're ok with this?" Jason asked as he and Rocky went back to the mat to spar.

"Yeah, of course," Rocky said with a wave of his hand. "It's just a dance, it's not like you two are getting married, right?" Jason nodded. Rocky got down in a fighting stance, feeling his muscles tense as Jason got down in a stance. Rocky practically jumped out of his skin when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "What do you want, guys? I'm in the middle of something." He didn't have to turn around to know that it was Bulk and Skull. It was as if he came to the school they set their sights on him and tried to make him feel miserable.

"Word on the street is that your best friend is going to the dance with Muscles Magoo over there," Bulk replied with a little laugh. Jason rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, so?" Rocky demanded, an edge to his voice.

"So it seems like you're being replaced," Bulk replied.

"I'm not–"

"It's pretty fair, don't you think?" Bulk interrupted him. "You replaced her with Aisha, now she's replacing you." Bulk and Skull started laughing.

"Don't listen to them, Rocky, no one replaced anyone," Jason said, grabbing his arm. "We're all friends and that's what matters."

"Yeah," Rocky said softly.

* * *

"Hmmm, maybe if I can get Rocky and Jason pitted together it'll force the Power Brats to choose sides. Thus splitting them up and 'causing them to fight with each other. If they don't want to work together than the Power Rangers will be history!" Rita laughed triumphantly, moving her telescope. "Goldar, go and distract the Rangers! Keep them occupied as long as possible!" Rita demanded.

"As you wish, boss!" Goldar replied before vanishing with a group of Putties.

"Finster! I need you to make a clone of Melody," Rita said, turning to the monster maker.

"I would, Your Heighness, but I need some sort of sample from her to be able to make a clone of her," he replied timidly. "However, there _is_ another way…" he said, rubbing his chain.

"Oh really? Tell me! Tell me, tell me!"

"Uggh, it's like nails on a chalkboard," Zedd muttered, rubbing his temples.

Rita chose to ignore him as Finster continued to rub his chin. "The easiest way to create a clone of sorts is to use a mirror. All you have to do is make sure she's standing in front of it and zap the mirror with some of your magic. Then the mirror version of her would come to life. You just have to get the real Melody out of the way so the Rangers don't suspect a thing."

"That's a brilliant idea, Finster!" Rita rushed to her chair and grabbed her wand, holding it tight in her hands. "Now all we have to do is wait."

* * *

"Rocky, focus!" Adam ordered as he patted the cube of foam that was attached to his hand. "You're supposed to kick here, not at my face."

Rocky hit the sides of his head and mentally scolded himself. _C'mon man, pay attention! Don't screw up like you always do._ He paused briefly at his own thought but shook his head, got into a fighting stance, and started bouncing on his toes. Adam crouched a bit, bracing himself for the attack that Rocky was going to throw at him. Rocky jumped and executed a spinning heel kick. He groaned once he landed back on the ground, instantly knowing his mistake.

"Maybe we should call it a day," Billy said gently. "If you can't focus now you won't be able to focus later. Let's just wait until the dance is over and see if your mind is in the right place then."

"You have a good point Billy. Besides I have to shower before picking up Angela and getting here. I need to make sure the DJ arrives so I won't be able to take pictures with you guys, sorry," Zack said as he packed his bag.

"We can always take pictures once we get here, no worries," Tommy said, patting him on the arm. The rest of them started packing up their things and, as a group, left the Youth Center, talking excitedly about the dance. Rocky was walking a bit slower behind them, his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants, his head hung low. Tommy glanced back over his shoulder and was about to call him out on it when there was a flash of light.

"There you are, Power Rangers," Goldar called out as Putties dance around him.

"Oh no, not now," Zack groaned.

"We can hold off the Putties while you guys go after Goldar," Jason said as he and Zack clenched their hands into fists.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked.

"Yes. Contact the others, quickly!" He ordered before he and Zack ran at the Putties that were taunting them.

"Alpha, Goldar is attacking near the Youth Center. Contact Kim and Aisha, we need help right away," Tommy said into the Communicator.

"Contacting them now," Alpha responded.

"All right, let's do it guys."

"Right," Adam, Rocky, and Billy replied.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

* * *

"Uuggghhh! That's the _fifth_ dress you've tried on! Just pick one so we can leave!" Melody groaned, slumping in her chair in front of the dressing room. Kim was sitting next to her with her pink dress in her arms. Trini was sitting on the other side, twisting her hands; a dress was also in her lap.

"You haven't gotten your dress yet," Kim pointed out.

"'Cause I can find one in less than five minutes, not two hours like _some_ people I could mention."

Kim just smiled. "Let Aisha try on as many dresses as she wants. The right dress is supposed to make you feel like a princess."

"Spare me the sickening details."

Suddenly the door burst open and Aisha came out, spinning. "Well, what do you think?" She was wearing a short, gold Taffeta dress that shimmered underneath the light from the store. "I'm really feeling this one, guys. And I all ready have the perfect shoes to go with it," she said excitedly.

"That dress is totally rad, Aisha. You should buy it, you look so hot!" Kim gushed.

"Yeah, Adam won't recognize you once he sees you," Trini agreed. Aisha's cheeks darkened a bit as she smiled and clasped her hands in front of her. Suddenly a six-tone beep filled the air and they stiffened as Melody looked around.

"Did someone's phone go off?" She asked as she looked around.

"Actually that was a, um, beeper from the vet," Aisha replied, her eyes shifting slightly. "I get beeped when there's an emergency."

"Is everything ok?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a small emergency," Aisha responded with a small wave of her hand. "But, um, just to be safe I think Trini and Kim should come with me. She's the only other person who can calm the animals down," she continued, staring hard at Kim who nodded and stood. "So, can you pay for my dress?" She held out a credit card before dashing into the dressing room and came back out a second later. "We won't be gone long, we can meet up at the, um, Food Court. Buy anything you want with that card while you're waiting, ok?"

"Um, ok," Melody said hesitantly as Aisha, Kim, and Trini shoved their dresses into her arms. She watched them run out of the store and dash around the corner. "Weird," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. A sudden flash of red caught her attention. She whipped her head around and stared at the mirror in front of her, squinting. She put the dresses down on a chair and walked in front of the mirror, staring hard. She leaned to the left and the right, trying to see if it was light bouncing off of a sequin or something. She stood up straight and put her right hand on her hip. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw that her reflection put the opposite hand on her hip. She blinked and saw that the reflection in the mirror was just that, her reflection. The hand was put on the right hip. "Maybe some food will help," Melody muttered to herself, turning away from the mirror. "My eyes must be playing tricks on me." She reached out for the dresses when a hand clamped onto her wrist. "Hey!"

Looking up, she sucked in her breath when the red eyes of a Putty stared back at her. She brought back her other fist to punch the Putty when another hand grabbed her. She turned her head and saw that she was surrounded by Putties. She did all she could to try and get them off of her but they were too strong. The next thing she knew she was engulfed in white light and then everything went black.

* * *

Aisha, Kim, and Trini looked over their shoulders as they ducked down behind a wall of potted plants. They glanced around before Kim lifted her Communicator to her watch. "What's up, Alpha?" She muttered.

"Kimberly, Aisha, you need to head to the park as soon as possible. Tommy and the others are being attaked by Putties and Goldar."

"Oh man," Kim muttered, lowering her hand.

"I'll come with you. I can help keep the Putties distracted," Trini said. Kim hesitated. "Melody all ready thinks we left anyway. It'd be weird if I suddenly came back without you guys."

Kim nodded. "We're on our way, Alpha." She glanced at Aisha and Trini, who moved their hands to their Communicators. They all pressed a button at once and were engulfed in a white, pink, and yellow light before disappearing and reappearing at the park.

"Hey guys, need some help?" Kim called as she and Aisha ran up. Aisha winced when sparks flew once Goldar's sword connected with Rocky's chest.

"That thought came to mind," Adam replied.

"Ready, Sha?" Kim asked.

"Ready," Aisha replied as they moved their hands behind their backs.

"It's Morphin' Time! PTERYODACTYL!"

"SABER-TOOTH TIGER!"

Once morphed, Trini and Kim raced in to help Billy, Adam, Tommy, and Rocky. They landed as many punches and kicks on the gold monkey as possible. He easily blasted them out of the way with a swing of his sword, causing many sparks to fly into the air. Kim barely felt the full blow of his sword anymore but she did feel the pressure and her side hurt in a noticeable way but not enough that she would draw attention to it.

Tommy managed to fight against Goldar a little longer using Saba but then, in the middle of the fight, Goldar and the rest of the Putties vanished. "Whoa," Tommy muttered when Goldar disappeared suddenly. He stayed tense, as if waiting for Goldar to jump at him out of nowhere. When Goldar didn't come back he sighed and relaxed. "Power down." He blinked and rubbed his arms, checking them for cuts and bruises. "Is everyone ok?" he asked, turning to look at his friends and making sure they were accounted for.

"I'm in need of a hot shower, but otherwise I'm fine," Aisha replied.

"I'm with you on the shower," Kim agreed, rubbing her side.

Rocky rubbed his shoulder. "I could do with a massage instead. Gosh, my shoulder hurts."

"Aren't you glad you're not a dancing person?" Adam joked.

"Ha ha."

"Speaking of dance, guys, we left Melody at the mall," Trini said, running up.

"Oh my gosh. We have to go," Kim announced. "See you guys tonight." Trini, Kim, and Aisha waved before teleporting back to the mall.

"We should get to Tommy's before the parents start to worry," Zack suggested. The boys agreed, grabbing their things and started the walk to their cars.

* * *

Melody woke up to the feeling of landing on hard floor. She groaned and rolled over, pushing herself up to her knees. She looked around herself and saw a lot of fog. Standing, she rubbed her sore shoulder and looked around. There was no doorway and no windows, just some spaces on the wall that had some sort of space patter on it. "Where am I," she muttered.

"You're home. Well, your new home."

Melody's eyebrows narrowed together at the voice and she turned around only to see herself. Smirking. Melody took a step back and the other Melody took a step forward. Melody lifted her right hand and the other Melody lifted her left.

"I'm real," the other Melody commented with an eye roll. "You weren't seeing things at the Mall."

"What in the world is going on?" Melody demanded.

"I'm your reflection, dimwit," the other Melody replied. "Geeze, you're almost as slow as Rocky. Remind me why he's your friend; the guy's a gluttonous idiot."

"Shut up!" Melody snapped, balling her hands into fists. "Where am I?"

"You're on the Moon, in the Chamber of Command, home of the Emperor Zedd and Empress Rita, Emperor and Empress of all that is evil," the other Melody replied. "Or, as I like to call them, Mom and Dad."

"Rita? Zedd?" Melody repeated. "I've heard those names somewhere before."

"On the news. Yeah, they're the ones who are trying to destroy the Power Rangers." She scoffed, "Trying being the keyword there."

"What do they want with me?" Melody demanded.

"Nothing," the other Melody replied. "Not yet, at least. They just want to cause some problems and here I am. I was wondering how long I was going to be stuck in that mirror." She stretched. "And now, I get to go to the dance, with a hottie might I add. I don't understand why you aren't falling for that muscle clad body of yum."

"Ugh, spare me," Melody said, making a face. "But why do they want me, er, my reflection so badly?"

The other Melody grinned. "If you, a simple civilian, are here the Power Rangers will come and try to rescue you, like they do to every human being in Angel Grove. Then Rita and Zedd will be able to capture them and expose them easily."

"And the mirror me?"

"I'm just here long enough to get your friends mad at each other long enough to get them distracted so they won't notice that I'm not you. And the plus side is that I get to go on the date you didn't want in the first place." The other Melody smirked and backed away. "See you never. It'll be fun having your life." The other Melody disappeared in a bolt of lightning and was replaced by a man that seemed to be made of muscles and aluminum.

"Welcome to your last home on Earth, well, the Moon in this case," the creature said in a gravelly voice. "Why don't you…hang around?" He moved his staff which had a large Z on top. Before Melody could move chains and shackles were bound to her wrists and ankles. He laughed evilly as Melody tried to pull away from the restraints, groaning at the burning pain in her shoulders.

* * *

"Girrlll, you look _hot! _Tommy's jaw is going to hit the floor," Aisha commented, looking over Kim's shoulder into the mirror. Kim grinned as she applied mascara to her right eyelashes. "And that dress is so cute! I wish I found one like that."

"The only way you could get one like this is if you ordered it, like I did months ago," Kim replied, capping the mascara tube. "But you look amazing yourself. Adam will think so too." She turned her head. "Hey Melody, are you done yet?" She yelled at the closed bathroom door. "Come out so we can see," she ordered.

Trini, who was sitting on Kim's bed, turned her head towards the door when the knob twisted. Melody stepped out of the bathroom, looking at the floor as the girls gushed over her dress. It was strapless and a pale gray-blue with a lighter blue sash across her waist.

"You look amazing. Jason won't know what hit him," Trini said with a smile. Kim noticed that it was tight in the corners but didn't say anything. She grabbed their purses off of the chairs and handed them out.

"Ok, I think I can hear the boys downstairs, let's go," Kim said with a large smile before opening the door. Walking towards the stairs the voices of the boys got louder and louder. Kim's heart started beating harder against her chest as she slowly went down the stairs. She finally turned the corner and saw her boyfriend. She couldn't help but smile, noticing how much more handsome he looked in a tux with his hair down. Most girls thought it was weird that she was dating a boy whose hair was longer than hers, but she loved how long it was and loved being able to run her fingers through his hair, which she really had the urge to do now.

"Wow, you guys look great," Rocky said, causing them all to turn around.

Tommy's eyes lit up when his eyes rested on Kim. Her dress was a hot pink, strapless, bubble dress, that had a white tie tied to the side that flattered her small frame. She clasped her hands in front of her and smiled as Tommy walked over to her, a box for her corsage in his hands. "You look beautiful, Beautiful."

Kim giggled. "You don't look bad yourself."

"Thank you." Without taking his eyes off of her he gently took her right hand and slid her corsage over her hand. She blushed under his gaze and turned to her mother who was holding out his boutonniere. She took it and carefully pinned it to his lapel. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side so her mother could take a picture.

"Aww, you two look so cute," Mrs. Hart gushed.

"Mooom," Kim muttered, embarrassed.

"Ok, I got it," Melody said, pushing the pin through Jason's lapel. She glanced at the other boutonniere box that was sitting by her side and bit her lip. _The real Melody would give it to him and I gotta stay in character long enough. Might as well get it over with. _"Excuse me," she said to Jason before grabbing the box and walking over to Rocky who was standing on the outside of the group's circle. "Hey St…er…Rocky."

A smile broke onto Rocky's face as he looked at her. "Wow, Bammers, you look amazing."

_Why the hell did the give each other such ridiculous nicknames?_ Melody forced a smile and held out the boutonniere. "I didn't want you to feel left out so…" she let her voice trail off.

"Thanks, Mellie."

Melody tried not to pull a face at the nickname as she pinned the flower to Rocky's lapel. They posed for a few pictures for their parents before getting into the cars to head off to the dance. Once they got there they were greeted by Zack and Angela who were accepting tickets by the door.

"Hey man," Zack greeted Jason with a complicated handshake. "You all look great. Hurry up inside the live band is all ready playing and they're kickin'."

"Sounds like fun! C'mon Jason," Melody said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him inside. She glanced back at Rocky over her shoulder and smirked when she saw a confused look cross his features.

"You coming Tommy?" Kim asked when she noticed he wasn't following her.

"Yeah, I just want to check in with Zordon," he replied.

"You actually brought your Communicator?" Kim asked. Tommy looked at her as if she grew a second head. "I mean, the rest of us didn't. They don't attack us at night; we have nothing to worry about."

"I know, I just want to be sure. I'll meet you inside." He kissed her forehead.

"Ok, don't stay out too long, it's getting cold."

Tommy nodded and backed away, shielding himself behind a few trees before bringing his Communicator to his mouth. "Alpha, it's Tommy."

'What's wrong, Tommy?"

"I don't know. I get this weird feeling that something's going to happen but I can't put my finger on it," Tommy replied.

"Tommy, there seems to be a source of negative energy coming from the dance, as if someone is under Rita's control. We'll keep our scanners searching everyone to be sure, but that's all we can do," Alpha said.

"Thanks, Alpha. Over and out." Tommy lowered his wrist, pushing his sleeve back over his communicator and headed inside. He grabbed Kimberly's arm and pulled her onto the dance floor, twirling her around as he laughed.

He had his eyes on her the entire night. Her beauty was so captivating that he couldn't bear to take his eyes off of her. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world, in the entire universe even. There was no way any other girl on the planet could rival Kim. They danced song, after song after song, staying close together as if they had melted into one person. They finally took a break when Kim said that her feet were starting to hurt. Tommy kept a hand on her waist as he lead her over to the table that Rocky was currently occupying. He was slumped in his chair, a bored expression on his face.

"Hey Rocks, what's wrong?" Kim asked, sitting next to him.

"I'm bored," he replied. "Melody won't even talk to me; she's too busy with _Jason_." He made a face when he said the Original Red's name. "I don't even know why I came to this stupid dance," he sighed.

Kim looked at Tommy with a questioning look in her eyes. Tommy nodded and she kissed his cheek before grabbing Rocky's hand. "C'mon, let's dance," she said trying to pull him to his feet.

"I don't know," he said, turning to Tommy.

"It's all right, man. I need to do something anyway," Tommy said with an encouraging nod. Rocky nodded back and let Kim drag him onto the dance floor. Tommy backed out of the school's Gym, glancing around the hallways to make sure he was alone. "Alpha, it's Tommy. Melody's been acting weird, could you scan her for me?"

"Sure thing, Tommy. Commencing molecular scan right…now." Tommy waited patiently; looking around himself to make sure he wasn't being watched or overheard. "It seems that it is Melody, molecularly, but there are traces of Rita's magic over her."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems as if Rita has somehow made a clone of Melody using a mirror," Zordon replied. "It's Melody molecularly but Rita used her magic to get her reflection to become evil. There's no telling what she can do, you have to get her out of there."

"Will do, Zordon, but where's the real Melody."

"I've been able to track down her location. Zedd and Rita have her trapped in their palace."

"I'm the only one with my Power Coin with me. I guess I'm going to have to handle this one on my own," Tommy announced. "If anything comes up transport them and their things to the Command Center, but don't get them unless it's necessary. I don't want to ruin the dance for them."

"Understood Tommy."

"Over and out." Tommy lowered his wrist and moved to the door to get back into the Gym. It opened in his face and he jumped out of the way. He watched as Melody glanced over her shoulder before rushing down the hall. Tommy waited a few paces before following her outside.

"Everything's going according to plan, Rita. Give me at least another hour and then you can strike," Melody muttered.

"Good job, Melody!" Rita's raspy voice praised her.

Tommy stepped out of the shadows, startling Melody. "Uh, hey Tommy," she said with a forced smile. "What're you doing out here? Did you notice Kim dancing with Rocky? She's being a little unfaithful, don't you think?"

"Save it. I know you're not Melody," Tommy snapped.

The other Melody smiled. "You Rangers, I thought you were smarter than this. I was wondering how long it would take for you to figure it out. Oh well." She shrugged and snapped her fingers. In a small explosion where Melody stood a monster with a mirror stomach appeared in her place. "Come and get me, White Ranger."

"You asked for it," Tommy muttered. "It's Morphin' Time! Tigerzord!" Tommy felt a surge of energy rush through his veins once he was encased in the White Ranger suit. Mirror Monster and Tommy circled each other, each waiting for the other to strike first. Tommy made the first move, rushing at the monster, Saba held high in his hands. He managed to land a strike on Mirror Monster but was easily knocked away with a swing of its arm. Tommy ran at the Mirror Monster again, this time aiming a flying kick at it, but Mirror Monster mirrored Tommy's attack, knocking him over.

"Try this one on for size!" Mirror Monster rasped. Suddenly two tied-eighth notes appeared in Mirror Monsters hands. Before Tommy could move Mirror Monster threw the notes, they spun around him, moving closer and closer with each rotation. Finally they struck him, shocking him. He let out a growl of pain as the notes flew away, but came flying back at him. He was shocked once more before the notes flew back into Mirror Monster's hands. "Give up, White Ranger!" Mirror Monster called, throwing the musical note boomerangs once more. Mirror Monster laughed gleefully as Tommy writhed in pain on the ground while being shocked. The boomerangs came back to Mirror Monster and Tommy rolled over, onto his hands and knees.

_C'mon, Tommy, think! What can you do to attack this monster? Everything you do, it just copies it. Wait…that's it!_ Grinning under his helmet, Tommy got back to his feet, crouched in a fighting stance.

"You want more? Well, ok then." Mirror Monster threw the boomerangs again. Tommy grinned and jumped out of the way of the boomerangs. They went flying back to Mirror Monster, who was still reeling in shock from Tommy's dodge. It didn't have time to catch the boomerangs and they slammed into its mirror body. It screamed in pain as the mirror broke into spider web-like cracks.

"Let's go, Saba," Tommy said, pulling out his trusty sword. He tilted his sword back and threw it, watching it fly through the air and embedded itself into the crack, causing the monster to scream in agony. Saba then pulled itself out and, floating in air, shot laser beams at the cracked mirror. The beam bounced around in the mirror until it was illuminated in red light and exploded in a cloud of sparks. Mirror Monster grabbed its stomach while screaming in pain, slowly falling to its knees. It fell onto its face and then exploded completely in a shower of flames and sparks. "Huh, looks like Rita and Zedd are losing their touch," Tommy chuckled, returning Saba to its sheath. "Alpha, I'm transporting my way to Zedd's Castle. Don't contact the others; I think I can handle him."

"Don't underestimate their power, Tommy."

"I just have a feeling Alpha." He lowered his wrist, grabbed his power coin and transported in a beam of white light. He transported himself right into the chamber that Melody was stuck in. "Are you ok?" Tommy asked, kneeling by Melody.

"I'm fine," Melody replied. "My wrists kinda hurt but otherwise I'm fine." Tommy looked up and saw that her wrists were red, probably from trying to pull at her restraints.

"Don't' worry, I'll get you out of here."

"Not so fast _White Ranger_!" Tommy whirled around to see Zedd standing in the corner.

"Let her go, Zedd! She hasn't done anything to you!" Tommy snarled.

"What would be the fun in that? It brought you here, didn't it?" Zedd replied. He gripped his staff and swung it at Tommy. Tommy quickly brought out Saba and stopped the staff from being slammed down onto his head. The two quickly got into a heated battle, trying to win over the other. Zedd had the upper hand with the ability to produce lightning with his staff, easily electrocuting the White Ranger. Finally, when Zedd was about to deliver the final blow Tommy managed to hold up Saba, flat side of the blade out. The electricity bounced off of the flat blade and connected with the chains of the shackles, effectively breaking them. "No!" Zedd cried out in frustration as Tommy dashed to Melody's side as she rubbed her wrists. Before he could move Tommy teleported himself and Melody out of the room.

"Well, well, well, it looks like you failed, Zeddy," Rita commented as she appeared in the chamber.

"This was your plan, Motormouth!" Zedd pointed out. "Your plan failed!"

"I needed to do something while we waited _endlessly_ for you to find whatever it is you're looking for!" Rita screeched.

"Ooh, I'm getting such a headache!" Zedd grumbled.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Tommy asked again once he and Melody had teleported outside of the school.

"Yeah," Melody replied. "Thanks for saving me." She glanced towards the school. "There's probably no point in even going. The other Melody probably screwed things up for me."

"I doubt that," Tommy replied, grinning under his helmet. "Go and have fun."

"Wait," Melody stopped Tommy, her eyes squinted. "Your voice sounds so familiar."

"You ever see news reports? That's probably where you heard me. See ya." Tommy transported before Melody could ask him anything else. He powered down behind the gym and let out a sigh of relief. "That was close." He lifted his watch to his mouth. "Zordon, this is Tommy. Is there a chance that we have to erase Melody's memory?"

"I don't believe you're in any danger of being exposed," Zordon replied. "We will save that for alter if anything goes wrong. Go and enjoy yourself, you've earned it."

"Thanks Zordon. Oh, Alpha, do you think you could transport her dress into her locker?"

"Sure thing, Tommy."

"Thanks Alpha." Tommy lowered his arm and rushed to the front of the Gym where he saw Melody pacing, arms crossed over her chest. "Mel, there you are," he said with a smile as he walked over to her. "Where were you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Melody replied.

"Try me."

Melody hesitated. It sounded crazy in her head, now that she thought back on it, but maybe he would believe her. He's been in Angel Grove long enough that he's had to deal with the monsters…"Ok, long story short, I was at the mall when these Putties grabbed me and…moved me to this room that was where Zedd and Rita's place was. Then I was chained and shackled and held there as bait for the Power Rangers. Meanwhile, back here a clone of sorts took my place to try and get Rocky mad a Jason so you guys wouldn't notice I was gone. Apparently the White Power Ranger found out, beat the monster version of me, came to the Moon and brought me back here." Melody let out a breath after rushing to fit everything in one sentence. "And…you don't believe me." Melody sighed, defeated.

"No. I do," Tommy said quickly. "Rita and Zedd have captured us a few times as well, even some random kids around the place. The Power Rangers always got us out too. The important thing is that you're safe."

"Wait, did the other Melody mess things up?" She asked.

"Not really. Rocky's been glum since he heard that you decided to go with Jason, it didn't make a difference." Melody sighed and ran a hand through her ink black hair. "Come back inside, it's getting cold out," Tommy said, putting an arm on her shoulder. "Wait, you can't go to the dance wearing that," he nodded to her shirt and jeans.

"I guess I'm stuck wearing this," she said. "The other Melody had my dress."

"Not necessarily," Tommy replied, leading her back into the Gym. He took her to her locker and opened it.

"How'd this get here?" She asked, taking out her dress.

"Does it matter? Hurry and change so we can get back to the dance." He did an exaggerated dance moved which caused her to laugh before she rushed off to the bathroom. She came back out a few minutes later and followed him back into the gym.

"Mel, where have you been?" Jason asked as soon as she walked over to him.

"I, uh, had a stomach ache," she replied.

"Are you ok? Do you need a drink? Do you need to sit down?"

"I'm fine, Jason, but thanks." Melody smiled at him before looking around the room and spotted Rocky sitting in a chair, a glum look on his face. "Hey Jase, do you think I could–?"

"Go ahead," Jason replied as if reading her mind.

"Thanks." Melody moved her way through the crowd before reaching the table. "Can I sit here?" She asked, pointing at the chair next to Rocky.

"It's a free country," he replied without looking at her. She nodded and sat down. "How come you're not dancing with your date?"

"Because I want to talk to my _best friend_ and make sure everything's ok," Melody replied. "Look, I'm sorry for, uh, ignoring you all night. But I have a good reason. See, I–"

"I thought we were friends, Mel," Rocky interrupted her.

"We _are_."

"Friends don't ignore their friends."

"I apologized all ready, Rocky. What else do you want?"

"I want to know why you're replacing me," Rocky replied, finally looking at her.

"I'm not replacing you!" Melody responded, an edge to her voice. "If anyone's replacing anyone, you're replacing me with Aisha."

"I didn't replace you."

"Maybe not but I feel like it. Whenever we play a game or whatever you two are always automatically on the same team and you always jump at the chance to help her out. You even teach her new katas whenever she asks."

"Now you know how I feel. Jason's always been around you, it's like I can't even do something with you without getting his permission first." Rocky rolled his eyes. "Not to mention whenever I try to do something with you, you all ready have plans with him to study."

"Rocky, I study with him because he's the only one who can help me in Chemistry class," Melody replied. "Let's be honest, Jason knows what he's doing and if I had Billy, Trini, or Adam help me it'd just make me even more confused with their smart talk, and he's just being nice to me 'cause I'm the new kid. You don't get upset when Zack helps me with some dancing. Why's Jason so special?"

Rocky struggled to get words out. There was no way he could say that he was a Power Ranger and he was afraid that Jason would try and take his spot back. He'd lose his powers and he didn't want that to happen, but what else could he say? That he was jealous? That would go over like a lead balloon. "I guess…I'm being a little selfish," he muttered. "Sorry, it's just…I want to pick up where we left off, being the best of friends."

"We can't do that, you know that," Melody said gently. "But we can start over from the beginning of the year." She smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we can." Rocky smiled in return.

"Yo yo yo, listen up everyone. This is the last song of the night, so grab that special someone and make it count," the DJ said into the microphone as a slow song came on.

"Want to dance?" Rocky asked. "You know, to celebrate our friendship?" He quickly added.

"I'm not much of a school dance person, you know that," Melody replied. "Besides, I think my 'date' is a little preoccupied." She pointed and Rocky followed his gaze, laughing when he saw Jason and Trini dancing together. Scanning the crowds they say Tommy and Kim, Adam and Aisha, Zack and Angela, and Billy dancing with a girl from the chess club.

"Oh well. So, tell me about what happened. Tommy said something about Zedd and Rita," Rocky said nonchalantly.

"You wouldn't believe it. I was at the mall and…"

* * *

**A/N:**** What a sweet ending. Of course things can't stay this way for long. In my head the idea behind Zedd's and Rita's plan made sense but if it doesn't make sense here or has too many holes, please let me know. Please leave a review, they make me smile.**

**I would like to take this time to thank my faithful reviewers, **_ClassicTVFan, Ghostwriter_**, and **_DeSantosLove21_** for reviewing consistently. They don't know how much the reviews mean to me and I wanted to give them a little shout out. Also, I would like to thank **MysticMelody101** for her/his review and say 'your welcome' for getting her/him into writing PR fics.  
**


	12. Rocky's Desire

**Chapter 11:**

_Rocky's Desire

* * *

_

"There must be something that I'm missing. I've tried capturing their parents and putting them under a spell, I've tried turning one of their own against them; I've even captured their new friend. What else can I do? What?" Rita demanded, pacing her bedroom. Letting out a growl of anger she lashed out at the closest thing to her, her telephone. It smashed to the ground and broke into a bunch of little pieces. "What else can I do? I'm running out of ideas. And there is no way I can let Zeddy take all the credit for destroying the Power Rangers with this mystery plan of his. Ooh, there must be something I'm _missing_!"

"I have an idea, empress," Finster's small voice echoed in the room. Rita whirled around and stared hard at her timid henchman who stood by the entrance of the room.

"What is it? Hurry up before Zedd finally finds whatever it is he's looking for!" Rita said eagerly.

"Well, after watching the Power Rangers it has come to my attention that they are very protective over their friends," Finster spoke up.

"They're the same way with their parents, so?" Rita demanded.

"Well, one of them, Rocky, seems to be really protective of her. What if, somehow, we give them an ultimatum? They give up their powers if they want to save their friend. If not, she'll be killed," Finster replied. "But, instead of keeping her captured here where it's easy for them to get her you could have her linked to the monster, like a DNA sample. That way, whatever hurts the monster, hurts her. The only way the pain will end for her would be if they give up their powers or if she dies. Then the team will fall apart."

"Finster…that is the best thing that I've ever heard come out of your mouth!" Rita said, excitedly. "Now all I have to do is find out how to get some of her DNA. Ahahahahahahaha!"

* * *

"Wait, so it _wasn't_ you at the dance?" Kim asked, picking up a bowl of popcorn and flopping down on her bed, shoving a few kernels into her mouth. The girls had decided to sleep over at Kim's house after the dance. They had taken a detour and went to the local bowling alley to Glow Bowl for a while and then went back to her house where the girls tried to get information out of Melody that they had heard from Tommy.

"No," she replied, reaching up and grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Rita had used my mirror reflection to pose as me so you wouldn't notice that I was gone as they tried to lure the Power Rangers to their castle."

"Did the Power Rangers come?" Trini asked.

"The White one did," Melody replied. "I don't know why the others didn't come though, I thought they were a packaged deal." Behind Melody's back Aisha looked at Kim and raised her eyebrows. Kim just shrugged. "I want to see the White one again, so I can thank him properly." She chuckled. "The funny thing is he sounded a lot like Tommy."

Trini's eyes widened but she quickly regained her composure. "Maybe it was just your ears playing tricks on you. Or something that Zedd and Rita did."

"Yeah, maybe…" she said dismissively. She shoved some popcorn into her mouth as silence filled the room. "Hey guys, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up?" Aisha replied.

"Where'd you guys get those bracelet things?" Melody asked, nodding to the band around Trini's wrist. "They're so cool."

"Uhh…" Kim's eyes shifted to Aisha and Trini. "We got them, uh…" She glanced up when she heard a knock on her door. A second later the door opened and Ms. Hart walked in, a phone in her hands. _Saved by the phone_.

"Sorry to interrupt. Melody, you have a phone call. It's your parents," Ms. Hart said. Melody gave her a confused look before pushing herself off of the floor, took the phone, and stepped out into the hallway.

Aisha, Trini, and Kim collectively let out a breath of relief. "That was close," Kim muttered. "What if she finds out who the Power Rangers are? What do we do?" She whispered.

"I'm sure we can trust Melody with our secret," Aisha rationalized. "After all, she hasn't given us a reason _not_ to trust her. And she's Rocky's friend, so that helps."

"Yes, but really what do we know about her?" Trini pointed out. "Maybe we could get Zordon and Alpha to erase her memory?"

"She's not a threat to us," Kim said sternly. "I don't think we should do anything but be extra careful. Rita and Zedd are known for attacking the ones that are closest to us. Melody's been attacked once and captured once. Who knows what she has up her sleeve? We have to make sure we keep our guards up and keep an eye on her." She looked at Aisha and Trini.

"I can't do much without my powers anymore, but I'll help in any way that I can," Trini announced.

"Me too. Rita messes with Mel, she messes with me," Aisha agreed.

"Zack and Jason will help too, I'm sure," Trini added.

Aisha laughed. "Especially Jason, I'll bet." She had a teasing look in her eyes. "He seems to be fond of her suddenly." Trini and Kim exchanged a look. "It's no wonder Rocky's so jealous of him lately," she added.

"Which is funny 'cause Rocky doesn't seem like the jealous type," Kim said as she tapped her chin. "Speaking of which, I'm going to give him a call to tell the others about our idea." She picked up the phone by her bed and began to dial a number. She lifted her phone to her ear and glanced up as soon as Melody came back into the room. There was no expression on her face but something was reflecting through her eyes.

"Is everything ok?" Aisha asked, noticing the look in Melody's eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Melody replied, sitting down on her sleeping bag and pulling the bowl of popcorn into her lap. "Dad just called wondering where I was. I forgot to call him and tell him where I was going. Needless to say he blew a fuse but everything's fine now." She forced a smile, one that didn't reach her eyes, but it was convincing enough that Aisha nodded and grabbed some popcorn. "So, Kim, how're things going with you and Tommy?" She asked as soon as Kim put down the phone.

"Good," she replied.

"Just good?" Aisha questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I mean we're all ready going steady and I love being around him and all. We're good, more than good, we're amazing, excellent even," she replied. "I just wish sometimes he'd be a bit more romantic."

"I'm starting to choke on all of your romance," Aisha joked, putting some popcorn into her mouth.

"Well, what about you and Adam?" Kim asked her. Aisha lifted her eyebrow once more, questioning Kim with her eyes. "You two seemed preeetttyyy chummy at the dance."

Aisha swallowed and shook her head. "There's nothing going on between us."

"Is that a good or a bad thing? Come on, be honest with me. I can always find out the truth if you decide to lie to me," Kim warned. Aisha just smiled. "Ok, fine, I'm going to call him." She reached for her phone. Aisha gasped and jumped onto the bed, practically knocking the breath out of Kim. "Ahh, so you _do_ care," she said with a 'gotcha' smile on her face.

Aisha groaned. "Ok, so maybe I think Adam's cute…a _little_. I don't want anything to happen though, it could ruin our friendship and that's the last thing I want."

"So…you're just going to leave it up to fate?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged.

"I think you're making a good decision," Trini spoke up. "If you two are supposed to get together then it will happen when the timing's right."

"And I'm sure you're thinking the same thing about Jason," Kim said in a singsong voice. Melody laughed a little bit.

"Jason and I have a strictly platonic relationship," Trini said, picking at her nails.

"Buuuutttt you wish it were more," Kim supplied. Trini didn't bother to respond. Kim rolled her eyes, accepting the answer as it was, and then turned her attention to Melody. "What about you?" Melody lifted her head. "You crushing on anyone?"

She made a face and shook her head. "If I learned anything from being here it's that either the guys are ridiculously stupid, they're obsessed with sports, or they're obsessed with schoolwork. 'Sides, as my mom says, I don't need any boys distracting me."

"What about Rocky?" Aisha questioned, a smile forming on her face.

"Don't even suggest it," Melody said in a warning tone. "Pebbles and I together…that's like vinegar and peanut butter, it doesn't work. Trust me."

"I don't know, you two know each other inside and out. It could work," Aisha said in a teasing tone. "I mean, you two even have pet names for each other: Pebbles and Bammers." She chuckled. "How did you two get those names anyway?"

"Our parents," Melody replied, scratching the back of her neck. "They're best friends so, naturally, we did stuff together a lot…until he moved…" Aisha looked down at her hands. "Sorry to be a downer, but I'm going to hit the sack. I have to work tomorrow."

"Work? When'd you get a job? Doing what?" Kim asked.

"Dad got it for me," Melody said as she, Aisha, and Trini started to slid into their sleeping bags. "You know that horse shelter…place? I'm going to volunteer my time there, help with some kids who use horses for therapy. Then after that, later in the afternoon, I teach one more dance class before the students participate in a competition and then I have to train for my own competition." She rested her head on her pillow as Kim turned off the light. "I just hope Rita and Zedd don't do anything to screw up their hard work."

Kim let out a slow breath._ I just wish we could beat them once and for all._

* * *

Melody got home early the next day. She stood on her porch debating whether or not she wanted to go in. she was afraid of what she'd find on the other side of the door. She had stayed away from the house all night because she didn't want to see her parents fighting. She convinced herself that it was just a nightmare and she didn't want to be told otherwise.

Taking a deep breath she grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open enough so she could see through the tiny crack. Everything seemed fine so she pushed the door open further. That's when she saw them, the boxes, littered around the foyer.

_Don't jump to conclusions, Mel, we could just be getting rid of some things,_ she told herself, but she couldn't shake the feeling that weighed down in her stomach like a rock. She hung up her dress bag on the nearby coat rack and closed the door behind herself. She walked forward, all the way into the kitchen, stopping by the doorway when her dog, Spencer, reached up on his hind legs and licked at her knees. She knelt and scratched behind his ears, smiling a bit.

"I was wondering when you'd get here." Melody turned and turned, seeing Lucas sitting at the table, sipping on coffee. "I thought you were going to be late for your first day." She noticed how tight his voice was, as if he were about to snap.

"Ms. Hart made me stay for breakfast," Melody said slowly, picking up Spencer who started licking her hand, as if soothing her for what was about to come. "Daddy, why are there boxes in the front hall?" Lucas didn't respond right away. He took his time, taking another large gulp of his drink. _His tongue must be too burnt by now, that shoulda hurt,_ Melody thought. "Where's Mom?" She tried.

Lucas finally put down his mug and took off his reading glasses, folding his hands on the table. He only did that when he had to say something serious. Melody waited on bated breath. "She's leaving us," Lucas finally replied, his voice raspy. He stared down at the table, not looking up when Melody sat down next to him and placed her hand on top of his, her other holding onto Spencer. "She's moving to Los Angeles next week, next Saturday, after the divorce papers are signed. For now she's going to live in L.A. with your aunt until the divorce is final. We still haven't…" he paused and swallowed "we still haven't decided who, uh, gets you. We wanted it to be your decision."

Melody blinked. "Wait…you want me to decide whether to stay here or go to L.A.?" She asked.

Lucas nodded. "In L.A., they have a dance school you could attend to take your dancing to a higher level, like you've always wanted."

"I…I did want that, I do," Melody admitted. "But…I can't make a decision like this in a week. I have tests and projects and work and dance stuff, I…I can't…" she shook her head and blinked rapidly, to keep the tears that were threatening to fall in her eyes. "Dad, I can't do this. Not now. I…I have to get to work."

"Do you need a ride?" Lucas asked, standing.

"I'll take my bike it's not far." She paused. "'Sides, I don't really want to talk to you guys right now." She put Spencer on the floor and moved around the kitchen, grabbing her keys and changing her shoes. She then left Spencer in his little pen in the living room and ran out of the house. She looked back once, grabbed her bike and muttered, "Happy Birthday to me," before pedaling down the street.

* * *

_Ok, there's gotta be music. A lot of good dancing music. Maybe a few slow songs thrown in there for Tommy and Kim but otherwise good dancing music, she'll like that. Annnnd….and lot of good food. And CAKE! Yes, there's gotta be a cake. A BIG cake. Chocolate cake…no, Rocky, it's not for you. It's for Mellie, don't think about your stomach right now! _Rocky shook his head, trying to take out the food thoughts that threatened to fill his brain ever since he woke up that morning.

Rocky was up at the crack of dawn. He needed to get his run in and get in the shower before his brothers and sisters got in the way. He couldn't let anything go wrong on this today. It was Melody's birthday and he needed to make it absolutely _perfect. _You only turn sixteen once, after all and…he _did _have a habit of ruining something on her birthday. When he was eight and she was seven he accidentally dropped the cake…on her head. The year before that he had knocked over the cupcake stand. The year before that…let's just say they didn't call it Piñatagate for a reason. That's why he made it his mission to make it the best birthday for her because she was not only celebrating it with her best friend again but she was celebrating it in a new town with new friends and he wanted to make sure she knew she was loved.

"Hmmm, maybe we could go to the fair? That's in town, right?" Rocky asked as he tapped his pen against his chin. His father, Daniel, was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on some coffee and reading the newspaper. "Or how about an amusement park?"

"Rocky, don't forget that her birthday is _today_. You didn't plan this ahead of time, did you?" Daniel asked, looking over at his son.

Rocky smiled sheepishly. "I was busy with the dance and stuff. At least I didn't forget completely."

"No, you're just kinda pushing it, though." Daniel thought. "Why don't you just have it at the Youth Center? You kids hang out there all of the time and it won't be that hard to decorate in this amount of time. The party's later in the afternoon, right?"

"That's a great idea, Dad!" Rocky said happily. "I'm sure the guys are there all ready. I can just run over and tell them. I'm sure they'll help me out."

"What's going on?" Rocky turned around and saw his little sister, Robyn, walk into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. "What're we planning?" She asked, looking up at Rocky with her big brown eyes.

"_I'm_ planning Melody's birthday party. She turns sixteen today and it has to be perfect," he replied.

"Why does it have to be perfect?" Daniel asked.

Rocky turned to look at him as if he were crazy. "Because, Dad. I've screwed up her birthday every year since she was born, apparently. I don't want to do it again. I'd never forgive myself for as long as I live." He sighed. "I don't want to be only known as the jokester or the screw up, Dad."

"Hey Rocky, you and Melody are best friends, right?" Robyn suddenly asked, tugging at one of her braids.

"Mhm," Rocky nodded, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"So how come she hasn't come over, if you're such good friends? Aisha and Adam come over all of the time."

Rocky struggled to find an answer but he couldn't come up with one. _Why doesn't she come over? I've given her plenty of chances…_ Rocky shook his head. He wasn't going to let her change his mood, then he'd be falling for her mind tricks like he did Bulk's and Skull's. "She's just been busy. She did move here just a few weeks ago. I guess she was waiting until she got settled," Rocky said as he forced a smile and shoved a piece of taste into his mouth and chewed rapidly.

"Rocky, slow down. You're going to choke if you continue to eat that fast," Daniel warned.

"I gotta hurry, Dad. I want to get some sparring in," Rocky said with a full mouth. He needed to knock the thoughts out of his head and focusing on some katas would definitely help. Besides, he was sure that Robyn wouldn't want to volunteer to be his sparring partner.

He abandoned the rest of his breakfast at the counter and ran upstairs to his room. He filled his gym bag with a change of clothes and his red martial arts uniform and rushed to get out the door before his brothers, Diego and Drake, stopped him to ask him to play. Not that he wanted to put his brothers on the back burner but this was far more important.

"Rockwell Daniel DeSantos," Rocky heard his mother call from somewhere in the house.

"Are you talking to me or Dad?" Rocky called back, zipping up his bag. He shook his head muttering under his breath, "This is what happens when they give me the exact same name as Dad. Thank _God_ he goes by Daniel."

"I'm talking to you, _mi hijo_," Rosalie replied, appearing in the doorway of his room. "Rockwell, we _need _to talk about this."

"I don't have time, Momma," Rocky replied, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "I need to get to the gym so I can plan Melody's birthday party."

"This…this whole thing, it could affect Melody," Rosalie said as Rocky tried to pass her. He stopped, a few feet in front of her, staring hard at her face, trying to decipher what she just said. "I know how much she means to you, that's why we have to talk. She's going through some hard things herself, right now." She lightly touched Rocky's arm.

"She just moved here, I get it," Rocky muttered.

"No, that's not it." Rosalie shook her head. "She…her family…I can't say what it is they're going through but you need to hear about the letters and why I kept them."

Rocky held his breath. He looked back and forth between his mother's face and the door. He really wanted to know what was going on but he was also afraid of what it would be. _What if she has to move again? I don't think I could deal with her leaving again. I have to know…but I can't. Not now, nothing can ruin Mel's birthday. Nothing, _Rocky thought. He slowly shook his head. "I want to hear about it…but not now. Not today. I can't. Now that I know that something is going on with their family, this birthday just has to be the best birthday she's ever had."

Rosalie smiled a little. "I kinda figured you gave up on that friendship when you met Adam and Aisha.'

"I would have given up if I didn't think that it was weird for Mel not to write or call," Rocky replied with an edge. "I don't want to talk about this, Momma, I have to go. I won't be home until later, maybe eight. _Then_ we'll talk."

Rosalie nodded and stepped aside to let Rocky through. He went back down the stairs, through the kitchen to grab his abandoned piece of toast, and out the front door to his jeep. He tried to think of what it was that was going on with Melody's family. What upset him the most was that she hadn't mentioned anything to him. _Maybe she doesn't see you as a good of a friend as you were before,_ Rocky thought before he could shove it right back out of his brain. _Well, she'll have to tell me now. I'm practically putting my butt on the line for her._

Before he knew it he had arrived at the Youth Center. Rocky looked around the Youth Center, tightening his grip on his gym bag as he scanned the place to make sure Melody wasn't there. He saw Tommy and Jason sparring on the mats, Kim practicing gymnastics in the corner as Trini spotted her, and Zack was sitting at a table with Adam, Billy, and Aisha, sipping on some smoothies.

"Hey guys, guys!" He called, waving his hands, motioning for them to join him at the table. He sat down in a chair and stole Aisha's smoothie. He smiled as she hit his arm and took a sip, practically melting at the taste of fruity heaven that entered his mouth. "Hey Ernie, can you get me whatever Aisha's having?" Rocky questioned.

"One Strawberry-Mango-Kiwi comin' up," he said with a thumb up as Rocky gave Aisha her cup back.

"What's goin' on, Rocko?" Tommy asked.

"Today's Melody's birthday, she's turning sixteen. I want to throw her _the _biggest sweet sixteen party Angel Grove has ever seen," Rocky replied, his brown eyes twinkling. "And I was hoping you guys would help out."

"Of course we'd help," Kim said, lightly hitting his shoulder. "Why wouldn't we? I'm sure Ernie would like to help, too."

"Help with what?" he asked as he gave Rocky his smoothie.

"Today's Melody's birthday and I wanted to have the party here. Do you think we could get a cake in here by tonight?" Rocky asked hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do," Ernie replied.

"Great. Now the only other thing that we need to do is decorate the place, get some music, and get her gifts. Oh, and maybe get some food. We could probably use, smoothies it would be a lot easier." Rocky suddenly snapped. "And I need someone to distract her so she doesn't come too early."

"She was saying that she has work and then she has a dance class to teach," Kim spoke up.

"Where does she work?" Tommy asked.

"She works at the horse shelter helping special needs kids who uses horses as therapy," Aisha explained.

"That sounds really cool," Billy commented. "I'd like to check it out myself."

"Me too," Adam agreed.

"I'd like to see that myself," Tommy said. "We can make sure she stays distracted while you guys get this place ready."

"Let's just hope Rita and Zedd don't decide to turn her cake into a monster," Zack joked. They all laughed and split up to do their separate jobs.

"Hey, Adam," Rocky called before Adam could leave. He stopped and turned back. "I, uh, I need you to do me a favor," Rocky muttered under his breath, looking around.

"Sure man, what's up?" Adam questioned.

"Please…keep an eye on Mellie. Make sure everything's ok. Rita and Zedd…the more they attack her, the faster she'll figure out our secret and…there's just too much at stake. Please, keep her safe, for me. Bring her back in one piece or else all this preparation will go to waste and–"

Adam help up his hand, stopping Rocky from his rant. He laughed a little. "Wow, the first time Rocky DeSantos cares about something else other than food." Rocky blushed and looked down.

"I've been thinking about this for a while," Rocky started, looking out the window. "This secret we're keeping…I feel like the only thing it's going to do is distance me from Mellie. I really want to tell her that's the reason why she's being attacked all of the time. I hate standing by and watching as she continues to be targeted without fully understanding why. I hate lying to her, Adam, I really do. It…it hurts me every time I have to lie to her."

Adam was shocked. He's never seen Rocky this emotional before. The only thing he was this emotional was when someone stole his chocolate pudding when he went to get a spoon. "Rocks, I know how you feel. I hate having to lie to my mom and dad when they ask about a cut or a bruise I get. But I have to do it to not only protect myself but to protect you guys and the Earth. I want to tell too but…we'd lose our powers if we do and then Rita and Zedd will…" his voice trailed off.

"I know," Rocky whispered.

"We'll make sure she's safe, you don't need to worry."

Rocky sighed as he watched Adam leave. "Wrong, I _do_ need to worry," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Ok, and Melody you're going to be pared with Aaron here," Misty, the program's director said as he walked over to her, holding the hand of a small blond haired boy. "He's seven and he's kind of shy so don't be offended if he doesn't talk to you right away."

"Ok," Melody nodded. "What's his, um, disability?" She asked, blushing a little, not knowing how to word the question.

"Aaron's blind," Misty said, gently ruffling his hair.

"But…how can someone who is blind…ride a horse?" Melody whispered.

"People have been using horses for the vision impaired for a while," Misty said with a smile. "People with disabilities use them all of the time. They're very docile so the children don't have to worry about them running away or causing them any harm. They're memory is great so if a child is afraid of something and tries to move the horse out of the way it will remember not to go that way. Their vision is excellent so they can keep the children out of impending danger. They have a high stamina and a great demeanor." She gently gave his shoulder a squeeze. "He's been riding before. As long as he has someone to tell him where to go he'll be fine." Misty leaned down so she was eye level with Aaron. "Melody will be your riding partner today. I don't want to hear about any trouble, ok?"

"Ok Misty," Aaron said in a soft voice, as soft as the breeze that was blowing.

"Good." She took his hand again and walked him over to Melody. "Have fun. Don't hesitate to call if you need help."

"Ok." Melody gently took Aaron's hand. Aaron's eyebrows furrowed together when she touched his hand but his face then relaxed, his sightless blue eyes looking out in front of him.

"You're nervous," he stated.

"How can you tell?" Melody asked.

"I can feel it in your hand," he said with a small smile. "Can we ride horses now?"

"Sure." Melody started walking him to a stable. "Have you been here before?" Aaron shook his head. "The horses here are really nice. My favorite horse is called Jetstream. The one you'll be riding is called Caramel. Caramel and Jetstream are best friends, they always go riding together. I'll be by your side the entire time if you get scared, ok?"

"Hey Melody!" Melody turned around and saw Tommy, Adam, and Billy coming her way.

"Hey guys," Melody called, confusion evident in her voice. "What're you doing here?"

"Kimberly told us about your new job and we wanted to check it out," Adam replied.

"Yeah, it sounded like a good time so we came to see if we're aloud to ride with you all," Tommy agreed.

Melody lifted an eyebrow. To say they were being weird was an understatement. Before they didn't seem to take an interest in anything she did and now, all of a sudden, they wanted to do something with her. "Um, let me ask Misty to see if it's ok," Melody replied. "Aaron, stay here. These are my friends Tommy, Adam, and Billy. Don't move, ok?"

Aaron nodded then turned his sightless blue eyes in Billy's direction when he spoke. "Aaron, why do you like to ride horses?"

Aaron thought for a bit. "It's something I can do like normal people," Aaron replied slowly.

"You were born blind?" Tommy questioned.

Aaron nodded slowly. "I can do a lot of normal things but…people treat me like I'm different. I mean, I am…but I'm not."

"Being able to do something such as a normal person is all psychological. Everything you do is really based on your mentality and how much you believe in yourself," Billy said with a smile.

"Ok, Misty says you guys can ride with us," Melody said as she came back. "We have three extra horses because three kids had to back out at the last minute." She took Aaron's hand and the group walked over to the horses. "This one is Caramel. She got her name because she's light brown with golden undertones. Her nose is white and so is her hair. She's very gentle." She wrapped her arms around Aaron's waist and lifted him into the air. He reached out a hand and gently petted Caramel on her nose and she let out a little whinny. "Ok, left foot in stirrup," she instructed. Aaron did as he was told and she helped him onto the horse. "Don't move," she ordered Caramel. "Billy, you get to ride Brownie, Tommy you'll ride P.B., and Adam you can ride Trixie."

Billy and Tommy cracked up as Adam blushed and walked over to the black and white horse. "They're having the last laugh. If you want to gallop, P.B. and Brownie don't like to go faster than a trot." Adam smiled to himself as he clipped on his riding helmet. After checking that everyone was set, Melody let them all out of the stables at a slow walk.

* * *

"Finster, have you made my monster yet?" Rita demanded, turning to her henchman.

"Not yet, Empress," Finster replied. "I need to get a DNA sample first. I can't create the monster without the DNA to create a link. Creating the monster with the DNA link in the mold will make it harder for the Power Rangers to destroy the monster."

"Do you want me to go with a few Putties down to get some DNA?" Goldar questioned.

"You going won't be necessary," Rita replied, a smile breaking onto her face. "But I will need the Putties to help distract them."

* * *

"What made you want to take this job?" Tommy asked Melody as he directed P.B. to walk next to Jetstream.

Melody shrugged. "I rode horses back in Florida. The rocking motion calmed me down when I was younger or having a bad day."

"It makes sense," Billy commented from where his horse was walking next to Adam's. "The rocking motion has been scientifically proven to helps us as humans cope in situations." He cleared his throat and Adam gave Tommy a look, as if saying to get ready for his lecture. "Rocking is a universal soothing technique that spans across every culture. The motion of rocking makes blood pressure fall and respiration slow. The physical act taps into a pleasure centre located in the brain that produces endorphins and thus creating a therapeutic effect. It is a self comforting system in which smooth, rhythmic changes in linear motion act as a natural stimulant to the central nervous system. Interestingly rocking also helps stimulate our ability of balance, by activating the system within our inner ear. This also goes some way to help us be alert and attentive."

"Wow, he's really smart," Aaron said from his position between the teenagers.

"Sometimes a little too smart," Tommy said. "Sometimes you have to simplify things, bud," he said. He softened his commented with a smile which Billy returns.

"Sorry. Basically the rocking motion helps put us at ease which is why rocking chairs have become really popular for nurseries."

"Billy, Melody's trying to tell a story," Adam said with a little laugh.

"Thank you," Melody said, glancing at Billy wondering how his head isn't big to fit that brain of his. "Anyway, after a while I came to the horse place every day just to help take care of them and watch the other riders. I liked seeing the smiles on their faces and the excitement in their eyes at the competitions that I begged my parents for lessons. They let me take them and I've been riding ever since."

"Melody, can we gallop now?" Aaron asked.

Melody looked at Aaron before looking around them. The area was large and grassy, she didn't see any trails in the distance, it was only rolling hills of green. She tightened her grip on the reigns. "Sure, Aaron, just pick up the pace slowly until you get comfortable, I don't want you falling off." She turned in her saddle and let out a little screech when she saw a Putty in front of her. Jetstream let out a whinny of terror, rearing back on his hind legs. "Jetstream, calm down!" She ordered as she tried to gain control.

"Wha…what's happening?" Aaron asked, alarmed, his eyes darting around as if searching for the reason of Melody's panic.

"Putties!" Adam gasped, looking around and seeing that they were surrounded.

"Aaron, take Caramel and go back to the stables, no!" Melody shouted as she continued to try and get Jetstream to calm down.

"I don't know where…" Aaron's voice trailed off. It sounded like he was getting ready to cry.

"Caramle knows, just turn her around 180 degrees and let her take you back! Go, now!" Melody ordered. She didn't turn around to see if Aaron had left. She managed to slide off of Jetstream and he took off running down the path. Adam, Billy, and Tommy jumped off of their horses and quickly joined Melody, each facing out in a different direction, their hands clenched into fists, ready to fight. The Putties danced around as Brownie, P.B., and Trixie reared up on their hind legs and stamped on the ground hard. The Putties looked at each other before disappearing.

"That was weird," Adam commented, relaxing a bit. "Why would they come and just leave all of a sudden?"

"Who knows what Zedd and Rita have planned," Tommy muttered.

"But why would they want to attack kids?" Melody asked.

"Why do Rita and Zedd attack who they do?" Billy responded, grabbing onto Brownie's reigns.

"Oh no, Aaron!" Melody gasped. "Man, I gotta find Jetstream." She glanced over her shoulder. "He couldn't have gotten far. You guys check on Aaron and I'll go back and meet you at the stable. If we have enough time we can finish up the walk."

"Well, maybe I can give you a lift? I don't want you going by yourself, with Rita and Zedd seeming to love attacking you lately," Adam suggested. "There's strength in numbers right?"

"Guys, I can get there faster by myself. Go after Aaron, he's more important." Without waiting for their response Melody ran down the path, her hooded vest flying behind her as she ran, her black hair trailing in the wind. She finally found Jetstream walking slowly near the lining of trees. "Jet, here you are. Come on, we need to get back to check on Aaron," she said as she rubbed the horse's side before putting a foot in the stirrup and swinging on. She steered Jetstream back in the direction of the stables and let out a breath.

_What could have happened? I don't get it, Mom and Dad were together since they were in High School. Why did they suddenly stop loving each other now? _Melody shook her head and urged Jetstream to move faster so the wind could dry the tears that were on her face. _It's too sudden; it doesn't make sense at all. Huh, Rocky's having some troubles with his Mom right now. Maybe I could talk to him about it. Or Kim, her parents are divorced too…_

Suddenly angry she slapped her reigns against Jetstream's back to urge him faster. Her eyebrows knitted together when Jetstream ran faster, faster…really fast, much faster than she intended. Her heart started to beat against her chest. She struggled to pull back on the reigns but Jetstream didn't stop.

"Jetstream, slow down!" She shouted. "Jetstream, stop!" Her heart jammed in her throat when she noticed the red gleam in Jetstream's eye. He suddenly reared up on his hind legs. Melody was so surprised she let go of the reigns and lost her balance, falling onto the ground hard. "Ugh, not again," she muttered to herself, clenching her jaw at the pain that shot up her right arm. Jetstream suddenly reached back, much like a cat, opened his mouth, and let out a loud neigh, much louder than a normal horse's. It echoed across the land. Melody grabbed her ears at the sound. She rolled onto her hands and knees and struggled to get to her feet. Jetstream reared back on his hind legs and stomped on the ground, hard. Tremors rolled through the ground knocking Melody back onto her knees. _C'mon Power Rangers, where are you?_ Melody managed to get to her feet once more. Jetstream let out another neigh, this time visible sound waves came out of his mouth. Before Melody had a chance to move it the waves smacked into her stomach. It felt like her insides were being twisted and pulled out through her bellybutton. The force of the attack sent her flying back a few feet before landing hard on the ground.

"Melody! Melody!" Adam shouted as he rode up on Trixie. He dropped down from Trixie's back and ran over to her. "Are you ok? What happened?" he grabbed her elbow and helped her to her feet.

"Ugh. Um, I fell off Jetstream. He got spooked by a snake or something and I wasn't expecting it," she replied, rubbing her head. "Is Aaron ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Tommy and Billy are keeping him entertained while they wait for you to get back."

"Yeah, ok." Melody stared hard at Jetstream, debating whether or not to approach him again. The red gleam in his eye was gone. He slowly trotted over to Melody and nudged her hand. She smiled and rubbed his nose. "Let's go back."

* * *

Bulk walked into the Youth Center and looked around, noticing balloons and streamers being hung up all over the place. Skull stood by his side, chewing loudly on his piece of gum. Bulk looked around the room, set his sights on Rocky and grinned, walking over to the latino who was currently pacing, reading off a clipboard, the bottom of his plaid shirt billowed behind him as he walked.

"Hey, Dweeb," Bulk said as he tapped Rocky on the shoulder. Rocky sighed, squeezing his eyes tight, and turned around.

"Bulk, leave Rocky alone," Kim sighed, joining Rocky by his side.

"Stay out of this, Munchkin," Bulk said as he pused Kim away with a finger.

"Leave her alone, Bulk," Rocky growled.

"What's going on here?" Bulk demanded, motioning to the decorations.

"Not that it's your business, but we're getting a party together for Melody," Rocky replied.

"For what? Skipping a little rope?" Bulk asked as he bounced up and down in place. Skull laughed his high pitched laugh as Bulk smirked.

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Double Dutch is a lot harder than skipping rope."

"That's just like saying karate is hard. And _I'm_ the master at karate," Bulk replied. He started doing exaggerated movements with exaggerated sounds as Rocky watched him. He glanced over Bulk's shoulder and saw Ernie walking in their direction and a bulb went off in his head.

"If you're such a _Master_…then a simple kata will be easy for you to handle," Rocky said with a grin as he handed Kim his clipboard.

She grabbed his arm, grabbing his attention and looked him straight in the eye. "Rocky, _what_ are you doing?" She demanded.

"Just watch, Kim, just watch," he replied with a wink. Kim smiled and shook her head, backing away. Aisha and Trini joined Kim as they watched Rocky and Bulk walk to the center of the Youth Center, attracting attention of the others. "Zack, cut it," Rocky ordered. Zack stopped in mid dance move, turning it into a jerking robot before he turned off the music. Jason turned from where he was hanging up a streamer and looked at Rocky across the room. Rocky merely flicked his head, getting his hair off of his forehead as he smiled with confidence. "Watch and learn," Rocky said to Bulk, a cocky air in his voice. He pressed a fist to his open palm and bowed at the waist. He launched into a quick succession of kicks, punches, and spins. Kim and the others cheered him on as he continued to move in quick movements. He finally finished with a kick straight up into the air. He pressed his fist to his palm once more and bowed again.

"Whoo! Way to go, Rocky!" Aisha cheered, patting him on the back. Rocky smiled and pointed to the open space.

"C'mon Bulkie, you got this," Skull said as he clapped, still chewing obnoxiously on his gum. Bulk gripped his belt and tugged up his pants, glaring at Rocky. He walked into the middle of the floor and looked around. He then started to try and copy the moves that Rocky had just executed; although he was less balanced and couldn't do the same kicks and jumps because he didn't get enough height due to his size. Finally, he turned and brought his foot up to kick into the air. His foot connected with the bottom of the cake, launching it back in his face.

Jason slapped Zack on the chest and the two burst out laughing as they walked over to Bulk who was wiping icing from his eyes. "Wow, Bulk, you just got _iced_," Zack laughed, dragging his finger through the icing and sticking it in his mouth. "Boy, does revenge taste _sweet._"

"Hey Bulk, you might want to _stretch_ first next time," Jason added when he saw Bulk rubbing the back of his leg.

"Hey, uh Bulkie, I don't think you did it right," Skull whispered.

"Shut up, numbskull," Bulk growled, noticing the stern look on Ernie's face.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew next time," Rocky said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I really wonder how the guy got into High School," he said as he took the clipboard from Kim back.

"I wonder the same thing about you," Aisha said with a smile.

"Ha ha," Rocky laughed sarcastically. "You're a riot, Sha." They all tensed when the six tone beep filled the air. He glanced around to make sure they wouldn't be heard. Zack had turned up the music and dashed to their side. "Rocky here, what's up?" He could faintly hear his heart beating in his ears. _Please let Mel be ok. Please let Mel be ok._

"Guys, its Tommy. We had some Putty trouble," Tommy came in.

"Oh my gosh. Is everyone ok? The kids?" Kim asked in a distressed tone.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. It was weird, they just showed up and scared Jetstream, Melody's horse, and then they disappeared," Tommy replied.

"I think Rita's losing her touch," Aisha commented.

"That's all that happened?" Jason asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. They may be evil but I don't think they'd heard special needs kids. I think they just wanted to scare us a bit," Tommy replied.

"Should we contact Zordon?" Trini asked, looking right at Jason.

"If they didn't do anything…I don't think we should," Jason finally replied. "Just–"

"Keep our guard up, we know," Adam interrupted him. "We're done here so we're going to come back. Melody has a dance class she's going to be at for a while so we still have time to get everything done."

"Great, the last thing we need to do is get gifts but we can do that in shifts just in case she tries to come here early," Rocky replied. "See you in a few."

"See ya."

"What do you think that Putty scare was about?" Trini asked Jason as they walked back over to the box of streamers on the floor.

"I don't know, but Rita and Zedd aren't up to their usual tricks. We used to be attacked daily. Now they're attacking every other day or a few days at a time," Jason replied. "It's as if their mind isn't on attacking us anymore. As if they're distracted."

"Distracted with what, I wonder," Trini said.

"Yeah, that's what I wonder too."

* * *

"My empress, I finally got a DNA sample from the girl," Finster said happily as he rubbed his hands together.

"It's about time!" Rita turned to Zedd and smiled happily. "Did you hear that Zeddy? While you're looking for whatever it is you're looking for I'm going to be destroying the Power Rangers with..with my…Voodoo Monster. _Then_ we'll see who's the most evil of them all!" She cackled evilly as Zedd merely stared at her.

"I'm getting such a headache," Zedd mumbled.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to **_ClassicTVFan, Ghostwriter, DeSantosLove21, Anonymous_, **and** _Kuro_ **for reviewing. It means a lot knowing that someone is enjoying this story. Please leave a review.**


	13. The Doll Queen Part I

**Chapter 12:**

_The Doll Queen Part I

* * *

_

Melody shoved her bike into the garage door before closing it and running up the porch steps. She rubbed her elbow as she went inside the house, managing to dodge the box that was right in the way before she tripped over it. She paused and looked around and noticed that some of the boxes had moved slightly. Shaking her head, she ran up stairs to quickly grab a change of clothes for her dance class.

After packing her bag she ran back stairs into the kitchen. She would've sworn her dad didn't move an inch since she left earlier that morning if she didn't notice he now had books sitting in front of him. She cleared her throat to get his attention. Lucas looked up. "Can you drive me to class?" She asked.

Lucas nodded, closed the book she was reading, and stood. He grabbed his keys and walked out of the kitchen to the front door. There was something off in his stride. He moved as if his feet were stuck in mud or something.

"Oh, Daddy," she whispered, following him out of the house. She got into the car and waited for him to get into the driver's side. He stood on the porch, staring at the house as if he didn't believe it was there. Melody sighed and shook her head. _Look what you turned him into, Mom. And you're not even here to explain yourself. You won't even call. I never knew you were such a coward._

Lucas finally got into the car and backed out of the driveway, quicker than Melody expected. She practically slammed her forehead against the dashboard as he took off down the street. Melody kept a tight grip on her seatbelt as her dad sped down the street, quickly changing lanes and passing cars. They finally pulled up at the dance studio. Melody's knuckles turned white from how hard she was holding onto the seatbelt. She slowly pressed the release button and got out of the car.

"What time will you be home?" Lucas asked, leaning over so he could look at his daughter out her window.

"I don't know." Melody shrugged. "The girls invited me to a movie so…I'm guessing about 7? Kim can drop me off."

"Ok, see you when you get home. I'll have dinner on the table."

"Ok Dad. See ya." Melody rushed into the studio, saying hi to the secretary as she ran past her into Studio 5 where a bunch of the girls were stretching. Melody stopped in her tracks when she saw that a few of the girls were laughing and egging Rocky on, who was dancing to the music. Well, he was actually flailing to the loud song that was playing and looked more like a fish out of water. She walked over to the stereo and kicked at it, successfully stopping the music. The girls looked over at her and quickly jumped to their feet, standing at attention. "What…in the world…were you doing?" She asked, looking at Rocky.

"Uh, I came looking for you. Kim said you'd be here. And when I saw you _weren't_ here yet I decided to try and entertain them," Rocky replied, walking over to her. "Uh, was that bad?" He asked sheepishly, noticing the look on her face.

"For me, yes. Now I gotta deal with girls who won't stop talking about you," Melody replied.

"What gives you that idea?" Rocky laughed. Melody pointed over his shoulder. He turned and noticed that the girls were staring at him, whispering to each other, and giggling. "Oops," he muttered. "Well, I can't blame them. They know something good looking when they see it," he said as he ran his hand through his hair, grinning cockily.

"Uh-huh, don't let the door hit your ego on the way out," she said as she dropped her bag by the stereo and started digging through it.

"I came to ask if you wanted to go to Ernie's afterwards," Rocky said.

"I'm going to the movies with the girls," Melody replied in a distracted tone.

"Just for a few minutes? I want to talk, if that's ok." Rocky wracked his brain when he saw that she wasn't going to change her mind. "My treat and you better take up that offer; I'm not known to treat anyone." He laughed a little.

"Fine," Melody said standing, holding a CD in her hands. "Just get out so I can start before their attention wanders." She glanced at the girls. "Not that they're going to pay much attention for long anyway."

"Great! I'll just walk around the shops until your class is over." He quickly gave her a hug which she returned half-heartedly. "See you later, have fun." He dashed out the door and she watched it as it slowly closed.

"Ok, guys, we're going to start with a few songs to warm up and then we're going to work on the routine to _This is How We Do It_," Melody ordered, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"Who _was_ that?" The smallest girl asked.

"My friend Rocky. Now–"

"He's _cute_!" Another girl sighed.

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"How do you know him?"

"Are you two dating?"

_Way to go, Rocky,_ Melody thought, rubbing her temples.

* * *

"My empress, when should we send down the Voodoo monster?" Goldar asked. "I don't understand why we're wasting such precious time."

"I have to wait until the timing is right, Monkey Boy!" Rita replied. She looked at their faces, making sure the golden ape believed her. Goldar just muttered something before walking out of the room. Rita sighed and flopped back in her chair. She didn't want to wait to attack the rangers; she wanted to do it as soon as possible to prove to Zedd that she didn't need his help. But that was just it. She was always doing something to prove something to Zedd, not because she wanted to anymore.

Lately she's been asking herself if it was a good idea to marry Zedd. He didn't seem to like the idea now that the potion has worn off. All he did now was call her names and yell at her when their plans went wrong, which was often. What happened to the Zedd that she fell in love with?

"There never was such a Zedd," she reminded herself. "It was that potion that Finster made. Zedd never really loved me." She clenched her hands into fists. "Well, I'll show him! I'll show them all!"

* * *

"No, he hates the color orange," Melody sighed. She was sitting on the floor in the middle of the circle that her students had made. Instead of dancing for the past hour and a half she's been answering questions about Rocky and she was about to lose her mind. An alarm rang suddenly and Melody jumped up. "Well, that was a wasted class. Come to actually _work_ next time, ok? The competition is coming up and you _really _need to put your game faces on," Melody said sternly.

"Yes Miss Melody," the girls sighed as they stood to gather their things.

Melody sighed and went over to her bag. She reached in to pull out her CD case but pulled out a note instead. Tilting her head slightly, she straightened and opened the note fully to read it under the bright light.

_I know I left all of a sudden but you should know that I have a good reason for it. I want to talk to you about the reason, really I do, but it's not my place. I know your father told you that I left, but he's the reason for it. You have to talk to him about it. He's been driving me away for years. I don't want to turn you against your father, but that is the truth. I hope you don't let this stop you from visiting me in L.A. You'll love it here, I'm sure. Enjoy your time in Angel Grove, before you know it you're going to graduate and move on with your life. Just don't forget the ones that got you here._

_Your loving mother,_

_Charlotte_

Melody crumpled the note in her fist and shoved it back into her bag. Bidding the girls goodbye she quickly went off to the showers to change. On her way back out she stopped by the receptionist's desk. She couldn't be any older than eighteen. "Hey Nikki, if I want to take the girls to the gym do I have to get the director's permission or anything?" Melody asked her.

"No, all you have to do is fill out the sign-in sign-out form so we know where you're headed," Nikki replied. "Don't forget, they are little kids. Don't push them too hard."

"I won't push them _too_ hard but I have to get their minds back on the task at hand. They were too distracted today," Melody replied with a tiny smile.

"Was it because of that boy who came through?"

"Rocky," Melody supplied. "Yeah, let's just say he distracted my girls a little bit too much."

"Oh, I don't blame them for being distracted. He's hot." Nikki laughed at the expression on Melody's face. "How you two are only friends is a wonder to me. I mean, he's hot, _you're_ hot, and it's the perfect match."

"Yeah yeah." Melody rolled her eyes. How many times has she heard that she and Rocky should get together? _Too many_, she decided. Her mother and Rosalie said it so many times as they were growing up that she managed to block it out. Hearing it from someone else just ebbed at her nerves like it used to. "Did you see him around here by any chance?" Nikki nodded and smiled. Melody looked at her in confusion. "What're you–?"

"You're done? Good, let's go!" Rocky said brightly as he opened the door to the studio. He beckoned her over with a wave of his hand. Melody waved to Nikki and followed Rocky out the door. "So…how was it?"

"An hour and a half of nothing but questions about you," Melody replied with a tiny eye roll. "If only they can get that focused on the competition."

"Maybe I can help," Rocky offered.

"Somehow I don't think that'd be a good idea, but thanks anyway." Melody stopped when Rocky held out his arm, stopping her from reaching out her arm to the passenger side door to his jeep. He pumped the handle and pulled it open in a sweeping motion.

"Your chariot awaits," he said, flashing a charming smile.

Melody looked at him in suspicion. "Ok, what's going on?" She demanded.

"Can't I do something nice for my best friend?" He asked innocently.

"Not unless you get something out of it. What's the deal?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Nothing, honestly. I just want to talk, really." He silently begged her by widening his brown eyes. She sighed and got into his jeep, buckling up when he closed the door behind her. He got into the driver's side, buckled up, and pulled out of the driveway.

"Did you ever talk to your Mom about the letters?" Melody suddenly asked, keeping her attention out the window.

"No, I didn't. I was going to do it tonight," Rocky replied.

"Why'd you wait so long, Rocks?"

He shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. "I'm still mad at her. She severed my ties with you for no reason. Well, there's usually a reason behind _everything_ but I didn't talk to her about it because I was afraid of the reason, I guess." He paused. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Melody replied. _Makes me wonder…who has my letters? Mom or Dad? Geeze, Mel, you should've looked for them before!_

Silence fell over the car as they tried to think of the reason for their parents to keep their letters. Surely their parents knew how much they cared for the other, so why would they intentionally hurt their kids. They finally pulled up at the Youth Center and Melody was happy to get out of the silence.

"Why don't you talk to your dad about it later? I'm talking to my mom about it. We can talk about it later, if you want. I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to forget it," he said as they walked inside the Youth Center and walked down the main hall to get to the heart of the building.

"I'll call you as soon as I know something," Melody promised.

Rocky nodded. "Ok, and one more thing…" he gently placed his hands on Melody's shoulder and walked her into the part of the Youth Center that held the gymnastic mats, the weights, and the Juice Bar.

"_Happy Birthday!"_ Rang throughout the Youth Center as confetti was thrown into the air and horns were blared as if it was New Years. Melody just stood stiff, looking around at everything as the group started to clap.

"You were so surprised! You should've seen your face!" Kim gushed as she rushed to give Melody a hug. "Rocky, you did an awesome job planning this," she added, turning to smile at him.

"You planned this?" Melody asked, turning to look at him,

"Yup!" He smiled proudly.

"But…you and…"she looked around, slowly shaking her head as the attendees congratulated themselves on a job well done. "It's just...I thought…"

"You thought I forgot your birthday?" Rocky interrupted. She nodded. "Mels, I could never forget your birthday. Oh, and before I forget." He dug into the pockets of his opened red and white plaid button down shirt. Frowning he checked his jeans pockets and pulled out a box successfully. Melody took the box and opened it. She lifted an eyebrow when a tribal-like owl pendant stared back at her. "Owls are still your favorite animal, right?" He asked hesitantly when she didn't say anything. "I…I can always take it back and get a different one if you don't like the owl. I mean, you can't blame me if I got it wrong seeing as I hadn't seen you in so long." He hit himself on the forehead. "God dammit, I screwed up again, didn't I? I'm sorry, I didn't know! I'll go take it back."

"Pebbles stop!" Melody said, suddenly laughing. He stopped his rant and looked at her. "Owls are still my favorite animal, don't worry." She took the necklace out and fastened it around her neck, lightly touching the cool pendant. "Thanks, so much. You don't know how much I needed this," she said before standing on tiptoes and giving him a hug. He squeezed her tight and laughed.

"It's no problem, I was happy to do it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a cake I need to check on," Rocky said as he let her go.

Suddenly music started to bounce around the walls and a lot of the guests piled onto the dance floor, dancing and laughing. Kim weaved her way through the crowd, grabbed Melody's hand, and dragged her over to the snack table.

"How does it feel to be finally sixteen?" She asked over the music.

"Um…pretty good. I'm finally allowed to drive," Melody replied with a laugh.

"Girl, you're going to love the present I got you," Aisha said, pulling her into a hug. "It took me a while to think of something. If you don't like it please pretend you do because I'm not taking it back." They laughed.

"Hey Birthday Girl, come and show us some of your moves," Zack said as he burst in on the girls' circle. He motioned to the dance floor where there was a gaping hole in the circle that had been on the dance floor where Zack was dancing and showing off his moves.

"Only if Billy dances too," she said turning to the blue clad boy who had been standing by, drinking punch from his cup.

Billy looked at her in shock. "But, Melody, I can't dance," he told her.

Melody smiled. "Dancing is basically a combination of velocity, momentum, force, gravity, support and friction of the floor, inertia, and torque. Simple physics, anyone can dance. Even you."

"She has a point, Billy," Trini agreed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "All you have to do is figure out the physics behind dancing and move to the beat."

"Show us your stuff, Math Man," Zack said with a grin as he and Melody pulled him onto the dance floor.

"They're actually getting _Billy_ to dance," Jason laughed, walking over to the group. "Can you believe that?"

"He was bound to break out of his shell sooner or later," Aisha said with a shrug.

"Speaking of which…" Kim tilted her heard. They all followed her gaze to see Adam sitting at a table, sipping on his drink and looking around the room. "He hasn't danced yet. Anyone want to fix that?" She turned and stared hard at Aisha. Aisha caught her stare and blushed. Kim smiled in satisfaction when Aisha suddenly turned, walked over to Adam, and dragged him to the dance floor.

"What was that all about?" Jason asked, laughing a little, jerking his thumb in Adam's direction.

"I don't know, ask Trini, she'll tell you," Kim said as she practically shoved Trini into Jason and went to grab a smoothie off of the juice bar.

"What're you up to?" Rocky asked, leaning over the counter so his face was hovering next to hers.

"Just a little matchmaking," she said coyly, taking a smoothie and sipping some of it.

"Kimberly Ann Hart," Rocky said in a fake scolding tone. "Hasn't your mother said anything about meddling in other's business?"

"Hey, if I hadn't started meddling then my mother wouldn't have met her awesome French boyfriend," Kim defended herself with a smile, lightly slapping him on the arm. "Why aren't you dancing and having fun? You worked hard all day, you deserve a break. Go dance with Melody."

"I think she's doing fine by herself," Rocky replied. "Besides, I gotta make sure the cake stays intact. I'll bet as soon as I turn my back Bulk or Skull or Rouge or Pixie will take a huge bite out of it. Uh-uh, no way am I screwing up again. Not this time."

"Hey Ernie, could you guard the cake for a bit," Kim called to their large friend who delivered a round of smoothies to a table.

"Sure thing, Kim," Ernie replied.

"Come sit, Rockwell," Kim said as he patted the stool next to her.

"How'd you know my name was Rockwell?" Rocky asked as he swung over the top of the counter and sat down on the stool next to her. "I made sure no one knew that that was my name."

"I know a lot of things, Rocky," Kim replied. "But what I _want_ to know is why you're so OCD about this party. Everything's going great, why are you still so worried?"

Rocky looked at the ceiling for a few minutes before replying. "I don't know if you've noticed…but I've gained a reputation for being a screw up and a big joke," he replied. "I've cemented that name every single birthday I've attention. Remember? I made your papier-mâché Eiffel Tower catch on fire."

"Anyone could've done that," Kim said with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, but twice?" He lifted his eyebrows and grabbed a smoothie as Ernie passed by him.

"Ok…only you can do that," Kim said with a little laugh. He sighed. "Rocky, you're not a screw up. Ok, so whenever you're at a party you're kinda klutzy but we like that about you. It, I don't know, it's something we look forward to, in a way. We like the entertainment."

"Yeah, well, I can't mess this up. Not this time, my plan is fool proof," he said proudly. Just then Melody ran over to them.

"You got a karaoke machine too? This party is so stellar. Rocky, vous êtes étonnant," Melody said happily. Kim and Rocky looked at each other. "I said, you are amazing." She beamed.

"I didn't know you spoke French," Kim commented.

"My mom's French so she made me learn. Its part of the reason our moms became friends," Melody said with a shrug. "Anyway, how'd you manage to get Aisha and Adam and Jason and Trini together?"

Kim smiled and shrugged.

"She was being devious, that's how," Rocky replied.

"No, I'm just…giving them a little nudge in the right direction," Kim defended herself.

"Right." Melody rolled her eyes. "Anyway I came over to tell you about Billy. After Trini and I talked to him about it and that dancing is simple physics he's turned into a dancing machine, you have to see him! Have you danced yet? Where's Tommy?" She looked around and waved to a few students who had caught her eye.

"He's getting your present," Kim replied. "He should be back soon. It wasn't that he forgot, it's just that he–"

"Didn't know what to get, I know, I get that a lot," Melody supplied.

"Don't worry about me, go and dance," Kim said with a wave of her hand, shooing her away. "I'll dance once Tommy gets here." She turned to Rocky. "Be a man and escort the girl."

He put his smoothie down on the counter. "You heard the lady." He got off the stool and made an exaggerated bow. "Will you please accompany me, Ms. Williams?" She laughed and took his outstretched hand and he led her to the dance floor.

"Melody, how are you doing?" Bulk asked, shoving his way between Rocky and Melody. "Happy Birthday." He shoved a box into Melody's hands.

"What're you trying to pull?" Rocky demanded.

"We're not pulling anything," Skull replied with an innocent look on his face. "We just figured, since she's become a target of that Witch's attacks, she's a magnet for the Power Rangers," he explained as Melody opened the box.

"So we decided to bring her into our Reveal the Power Rangers Identities' Club," Bulk added as Melody lifted the lid of the box. She and Rocky made a face at the shirt she had pulled out of the box. "It's only a matter of time until you find out their identities and we want you to be part of our club."

"Thanks," Melody said slowly, putting the shirt back in the box. "But even if I did find out the Power Rangers identities I wouldn't tell you."

"You wouldn't?" Rocky, Skull, and Bulk asked in unison.

"No, they keep their identities a secret for a reason," Melody replied. "That would be like…ripping off Clark Kent's clothes while he's working at the Daily Planet. You just don't do it."

Rocky let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding. _Maybe I should tell Mellie; she deserves to know what with being attacked all of the time… _He was jerked out of his thoughts when Melody grasped his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. _Whoa, her hand's so soft. Has it always been that soft…?_ He kept looking at Melody as she danced, her body moving easily as if powered by water. _Has she always been this pretty? Huh, I missed so much when I moved._

* * *

"Ok, this is the last one," Melody announced as she pulled a box onto her lap. "And it's from…Aisha," she said reading the card. Aisha smiled and bounced on her toes in anticipation as Melody tore through the wrapping paper and opened the box. "New rollerblades! Sweet!" Melody said happily as she pulled out the white blades. "Cool, the wheels are my favorite shade of blue too," she commented, noticing the deep aqua wheels. "Thanks so much, Sha," she said, reaching forward and hugging the yellow-clad African-American.

"I'm glad you like it. We all have to go rollerblading sometime," Aisha said as Melody put the box down on the table with the other gifts she received from the others.

"Sure thing. So, can we have the cake now?" She asked, looking around.

"Cake! Cake! Cake!" Zack chanted, getting the group to start chanting with him.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming!" Rocky called from the kitchen. He came out slowly, carrying a large cake in his hands that was in the shape of a tied eighth note as they sang happy birthday to Melody.

"You outdid yourself this time, Rocky, you didn't even drop it," Adam commented.

"I know!" Rocky said happily. "Maybe I'm not such a screwu-aaaaah!" He cried out as his foot slipped on the little step down part of the floor. He threw the cake into the air as Tommy and Jason quickly caught him. He watched in dismay as the cake sailed through the air and landed smack dab on Bulk and Skull. Everyone burst out laughing as Bulk and Skull groaned.

"Sorry, guys," Rocky apologized.

"Well, would you look at that, twice in one day," Zack laughed.

"Man, I screwed up again," Rocky sighed in defeat.

"Not this time, Rocks," Melody replied. "It's actually a good thing that the cake landed on them."

"Yeah, why's that?"

"Because I hate chocolate cake," she replied, pointing at the two punks that were busy wiping icing out of their eyes.

"Look, Pixie, our sweets are sweet," Rouge sighed as she dragged her finger through the icing on Skull's cheek.

"How would you boys like to give us some sweet sugar?" Pixie asked, making kissing sounds. Bulk and Skull looked at each other in horror, screamed, and ran away as Pixie and Rouge chased after them, causing everyone to laugh.

Melody suddenly looked at her watch. "It's getting late, I think we should wrap this up," she said as she looked around at the others.

"She's right, if we stay out any later our parents will worry," Kim agreed.

"Just one more song," Zack begged. "I think I can finally seal the deal with Angela."

"Zack…" Melody put a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to need to bring out the heavy artillery to win her over, and we don't have three years." The others laughed as Zack took the joked and smiled.

"Come on, just one more song. Please, please," he begged.

"Ok, ok. One more." The gang watched as Zack practically bulldozed his way through the crowds. The up-tempo track suddenly switched to a slow song. Everyone on the floor split up into couples and started slow dancing, Zack and Angela being the first ones. "He's really stuck on her," she muttered.

"Like a fly in glue," Jason agreed.

"Ooh, I love this song, come on, Tommy, let's dance," Kim said happily, pulling her boyfriend onto the dance floor.

"Hey, don't pull so hard, Beautiful," Tommy laughed, following her.

"Mel, do you want to…" Jason motioned to the dance floor.

"Uhh, I would, but, uh, _Trini_…called dibs," Melody replied, grabbing Trini's elbow and shoved her into Jason. He smiled and led her to the dance floor.

"Wait, Trini likes Jason?" Rocky asked in confusion.

"Are you blind? She's always spewing philosophical junk into his ears and he eats it up 'cause of his martial arts virtues," she replied. "I mean, they're not as obvious as Adam and Aisha but–"

"Wait!" Rocky held up his hand, "Adam and Aisha? Are you sure."

"You are _such_ a boy," Melody said, shaking her head.

"And you're a clone of Kim, like, totally," he responded in a valley girl tone.

"Shut up, I am not!" Melody cried, hitting his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." His laughter slowly died as he stared at her.

"What? What're you looking at me like that for?" She questioned.

"I just still can't believe you're here, that's all," he replied.

"Well, believe it, 'because I'm not leaving." Her blue eyes flashed in mischief as a smirk slid onto her face. "I'll follow you for the rest of your life, popping up wherever you are. I'll crash your wedding too."

"I'd invite you to my wedding," Rocky said, shaking his head a bit. "Well, you wouldn't need an invitation since you'd be standing up at the altar with me."

She lifted an eyebrow. "You really think we're going to end up married."

He shrugged. "Anything's possible," he quoted Tommy. Melody grinned.

* * *

"Thanks for driving me home. Your mother must be worried by how late it is," Melody commented as she got out of the jeep.

"Ma worries for no reason," Rocky replied. "Do you want me to walk you to the door?"

"I think I can take the ten steps to my door just fine, Rocks," she replied, closing the door. She leaned against the open window. "Thanks again for the party. It was the best…even if you did throw my cake to the floor…_again_."

"You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

"Forget that Rockwell DeSantos turns into a klutz on my birthday? Never. Next year I say we have it in a padded room," she joked.

"Ha ha. Get inside before your dad kills me."

"All right, all right I'm going. See you later."

"I'll call you in the morning."

She waved to him and ran up the stairs. Once she opened the door she turned to wave at Rocky again before closing it behind her. The front foyer was dark but the blue light from the TV came from the living room. She hung up her new jacket on the hook and tired to tiptoe upstairs.

"Char? Is that you?"

Melody looked up as golden light flooded the foyer. Lucas was standing, leaning against the railing of the little balcony of the foyer. "No, dad, it's me, Mel," Melody replied, walking up the stairs. Lucas looked at her as she approached. He reached out and gently touched the skin around her nose.

"No mole," he muttered to himself. "Sorry, Mel."

"It's ok, Dad, just go to bed," she said as she gently pushed him in the direction of his bed room. She watched as Lucas walked, pitifully to his bed room. Anger suddenly filled Melody. _How can you leave him like this and not care, Mom? How could you do this to dad? And you go and blame him? I'll bet this is all your fault, not his!_

Melody walked into her room and closed the door, turning on the small lamp. It was then she noticed the envelope sitting on her desk. Eyebrows furrowed, she walked over to it and looked at the front. On the front in neat cursive was one name: Rosalie.

_Why is this on my desk?_ She was about to grab it and toss it when something hit her. _That's Dad's handwriting_. She frowned. _Since when does he write Mrs. DeSantos?_ Curiosity got the better of her and she ripped open the envelope, unfolding the piece of paper. Her heart started to beat heavily against her chest as she read through the letter. Words and phrases stood out at her, the most important being 'can't do this', 'back then', 'time together', 'for our kids', and 'I don't want to hurt Charlotte or Daniel'.

Melody's grip tightened on the letter as the words sunk into her brain. Her father had had an affair with Mrs. DeSantos. She glanced at the letter to see if it had a date. It didn't have one, who knows when it was written…

Melody dropped the letter and backed away from it as if it had burned her. _Dad had an affair…? Wait…that's why Rosalie hid Rocky's letters! They didn't want us finding out and, in case we did, they didn't want us writing each other, telling each other. Was that why Rosalie hated me? Because Dad was with Mom and I look like Mom?_

Melody rushed into the bathroom, flicking on the light and staring at her reflection. Her hair, her skin, the shape of the mouth, and the shape of her nose were all her mother's. Her eyes were her fathers. Suddenly, she hated her reflection, what she looked like.

Melody gripped the counter only to bring her hand back when she felt a sharp stab. She looked down and saw part of her broken razor sticking out of her finger. She sighed, pulled it out, and looked at the blood that began to grow like an inflatable.

She started at the blood on her finger before licking it off. Her eyes rested on the pale skin of her underarm, the blue veins faintly visible and racing up her arm. Slowly, as if detached from her body, she lifted the blade, pressed the tip against her wrist, and dragged it across her porcelain white skin. She bit her lip at the pain as she slowly dragged the blade. When she finally removed it her skin was clear for a second before a thin line of blood rose to the surface.

All of sudden she started smiling.

She's never felt better.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to **_ClassicTVFan, DeSantosLove21, _**and** _Kuro_ **for reviewing. In a few more chapters this story will be set in season 3 to go along with the ninja power. I, personally, didn't like how they brought in the ninja power in the show. If the movie was the reason for it then, getting their powers would've been more epic. =) Please leave a review! I would like to know what you think, like hate, whatever. Even if you're dropping by just to say hi, leave it in a review.**


	14. The Doll Queen Part II

**Chapter 13:**

_**The Doll Queen Part II

* * *

**_

Kim let out a slow breath as she looked down briefly to make sure her feet were in the perfect position. She brought her arms down, bent at the knees, and jumped backwards, successfully performing two back tucks before landing on the mat, raising her arms to the air proudly.

"That was amazing, girl," Aisha praised her, holding out her pink water bottle. "You're going to kill at the school's Expo."

"You sure that was good? I don't think I stuck the landing, I was off balance a little," Kim said between gulps of water before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"From what I could see you were amazing," Aisha replied. "You have nothing to worry about, Kim. Your dismounts are great. As long as your head doesn't get a bit too big to knock you off balance you'll be fine." Aisha laughed as she lightly pushed Kim on the forehead.

"Stop," Kim giggled, swatting Aisha's hand away. "I wonder where everyone else is. They said they'd meet us here a few minutes ago."

"What's a few minutes? They're boys; they're known to be late."

The gang had woken up to a beautiful Sunday morning so they decided to spend it having a picnic at the lake. The girls had arrived at the Youth Center, their meeting spot, on time. The guys, however, were now ten minutes late.

"Do you want a smoothie while you wait, Kimberly?" Ernie asked, wiping down a counter.

"No thanks, Ernie, I had a big breakfast," she replied, rubbing her stomach for emphasis before looking at the clock. "I'm going to shower and change. They should be here by the time I get out," Kim said as she gathered her things.

"So that'll be in the next hour?" Aisha grinned as Kim playfully swatted her on the arm. Kim went off in the direction of the girls' locker room as Aisha went over to the table where Trini and Melody were sitting, drinking their smoothies as they waited. "What ever happened to that dance with Rocky?" She asked, nudging Melody on the shoulder.

Melody let of the straw that was in her mouth and looked at Aisha. "What?" She questioned simply.

"Rocky was saying how he was going to ask you to dance the last dance with him. We got him to talk to Zack to try and convince you to get him to play one more song before we left. We knew you were going to call the party at a certain time," Aisha explained.

"You California girls are not subtle are ya?" Melody asked. "See, we Florida girls are a little more laid back."

"And in denial," Aisha said in a singsong voice.

"Oh don't get me started."

"Girls, please. We're supposed to spend this day enjoying each other's companies and enjoying the sunshine, not fighting," Trini quickly cut in. "Although I do hope they get here soon so we cans set up the volleyball net. I want to be in shape for volleyball club once it starts up again."

"What club are you in, Aisha?" Melody asked.

"The music club," Aisha replied. "We perform at some school events. We're trying to get the school board to let us play at Prom. They keep saying now but we think we're close to getting them to budge. What about you? You have to join a club soon, don't you? Why don't you join the music club?"

Melody scrunched up her nose. "No thanks, I like music, but not school-approved music."

"Hey, some of it can be cool."

"Whatever you say, Ms. Glee Club."

"Hey ladies," Zack cheered, walking into the Youth Center. "Are you ready to rock and roll?" He did a few intricate dance moves that ended with a little spin. "Hey, dudes, where's Kimberly?"

"She's showering, she'll be out in a few minutes," Trini replied.

"Aww, we don't have three hours," Zack joked.

"Gee, Zack, I love you too," Kim said as she walked out of the locker room and stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Gee, Kim, your hair is looking _lovely_ today," Zack said with a grin, turning to face Kim.

"Thanks Zack," she said with a little eye roll. "What took you guys so long?"

"We had to make a little pit stop to get all of the food."

"_All_ of you?"

"Yeah, now come on, the guys are waiting. Jason's going to drive you girls and Rocky's taking the rest of us," Zack said as they all moved towards the exit of the Youth Center. "Is there anything you girls need before we head out?"

"No, we're good, let's just go!" Trini said impatiently, shoving Zack out the doors. They laughed as Zack was shoved out the door with Trini's firm hand. By looking at the beautiful Asian woman you wouldn't know she was that strong. She actually took on the air of someone delicate, with her soft features and her soft voice. But she, like Aisha, could become quick to anger and was one fierce competitor. That's probably why they were both drawn to the power of the saber-toothed tiger.

Kim looked over her shoulder when she noticed that Melody was walking a bit slower than the rest of them. She slowed her own walk and fell into step with Melody, throwing her arm around her shoulder. "Are you ok, hun?" she asked in concern.

Melody tore her eyes away from the pavement and looked at the girl. "Yeah, I just didn't get much sleep last night. With the party and all…" She forced a smile.

"Yeah, it was a good one. Rocky outdid himself this time," Kim agreed. She glanced at Melody again when she didn't respond. "But something else is on your mind."

"No, not really." Melody shrugged. Kim stared at her. "Ok, just…don't tell the others. I don't want them worrying over nothing and you _know_ how they worry over nothing." Kim nodded and bit her lip. To _her_ it was nothing; to them it was the fear of being attacked at any moment. Melody glanced around and saw that the guys were still packing the two red jeeps that were sitting in the parking lot. Melody lowered her voice just to be safe. "I had this dream…I think it was a dream. It felt so real I just…I don't know. Anyway, in the dream we were at the lake having fun and then it…suddenly switched. I remember being in pain, a lot of pain, and…and hearing Rita and Zedd's laughter. Evil, malicious laughter as the pain got worse. I remember, the Power Rangers were trying to get to me but…something was stopping them. I just don't know what and…I woke up."

"Wow, some dream," Kim said with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure that's all it was, a dream because the Power Rangers have always succeeded in rescuing anyone that's been captured. Now relax. It's a beautiful day." She took Melody's hand and pulled her over to Jason's jeep.

"All right, we're ready to go!" Adam announced before hopping into the passenger side of Rocky's jeep.

"Ok, which one of you ladies wants to ride in the front?" Jason asked, spinning his keys around his finger.

"Trini does," Kim said, shoving the Asian.

"I don't want to put anyone out," she replied calmly although she was glaring at Kim.

"Why don't I just think of a number?" Jason suggested. "Ok, I got one."

"Eight," Aisha replied.

"Twelve," Melody said.

"Nine," Kim said.

"Thirteen," Trini said.

"It was fourteen; looks like you're the lucky one, Trin." Jason smiled.

"Right," she said a little half heartedly.

Adam glanced over at Rocky as they drove down the road. Tommy, Zack, and Billy were in the backseat discussing what they wanted to do first at the beach. Rocky and Adam were the only ones that were silent and that's what bothered Adam the most. Rocky was a livewire, always jumping into topics giving his opinion, making jokes here and there. He was as still as a statue, keeping his eyes on the road, his jaw clenched as if he was trying to keep words from coming out of his mouth.

"What's up?" He finally asked.

Rocky glanced at him and quickly returned his attention to the road. "Nothing," Rocky replied.

"You're not talking," Adam pressed.

Rocky shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Rocky, I've known you for a long time. I can tell when something is bothering you," Adam said gently. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Rocky let out a sharp breath through his nose. "You know how I was telling you about how my mom kept my letters from me?" Adam nodded. How could he not know? Rocky's been obsessing over it for the past couple of days even though he hadn't done anything about it, until now that is. "Well, I finally talked to my mom about it." The hard look settled once Rocky's face once more.

"Annnnd?" Adam prompted.

"She kept my letters from me because she was afraid that I would have found out her secret and told Mel," he responded.

"What does Melody have anything to do with it?" Adam asked, confused.

Rocky clenched the steering wheel a little bit tighter. "Mom had an affair with Melody's dad," he replied through clenched teeth. "It went on for years, apparently. Even after we had moved. All the business trips she went on were to see Mr. Williams. The _entire_ time my mom's been cheating on my dad with my best friend's dad. The _entire_ _time_!" He smacked the steering wheel 'causing Adam to jump. The others didn't notice because of the rushing wind that filled their ears.

"Wait…does your dad know about this?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, he found out two years ago, but that was supposedly after they had stopped the affair. Dad was upset for a while. Remember that time when I stayed over at your house for a few weeks?" Adam nodded. "It was because I didn't want to be at home because mom and dad were fighting all the time. After a while they went to counseling and they _say_ that they're doing fine but…I don't think dad trusts her that much anymore."

"Well, what about you?" Adam questioned.

"What _about_ me?"

"How're you feeling?"

"How'm I feeling?" Rocky repeated. "I'm pissed off, man! How could my mom do this to my dad? How could she throw away such a perfectly good relationship like that? I mean, what drove her to do it in the first place?"

"These are the things you're supposed to be asking her, not me," Adam pointed out. "What are you more upset about, the fact that she cheated or the fact that she cheated with your best friend's father?" Rocky stayed silent. "I think you need to talk to Melody about this."

Rocky shook his head. "I don't think I can. I mean, I don't know where to start. What if she doesn't know?"

"But what if she does and she's waiting to get an idea if she _can_ talk to you about it?"

"She would've told me if she knew."

"Would she? What makes you think she didn't tell the girls instead?"

"Because she always tells me things first."

"She's not the same Melody that you grew up with."

Rocky's anger flared. "How would _you_ know? You don't know her like I do. Trust me; I'll be the first one she tells."

They finally arrived at the lake about an hour later. The girls went in search for a place to put their things as the guys unloaded the two jeeps. Zack, grinning, grabbed two water guns and walked up silently behind the girls.

"Oh, he's going to regret that," Jason sighed, watching Zack moving as quickly and as quietly as possible. "Trini's going to kill him."

"My bet's on Kim," Tommy said, glancing at his friend. "Five bucks?"

"You're on."

The boys all turned their attention to the African American boy that had finally reached his target. Laughing manically, he started spraying them with water as they yelled at him. Aisha and Melody started laughing as Kim complained about getting her hair went. Trini yelled something at Zack before chasing him down the beach.

"Ha! You owe me five bucks, bro," Jason said as he held out his hand and wiggled his fingers.

"I was sure it would've been Kim. She just got her hair done," Tommy muttered as he dug in his pockets for money. He slapped the five dollars into Jason's palm, who smiled smugly. Tommy rolled his eyes and grabbed a cooler, walking over to the girls who were drying themselves with their towels.

"Face it, man, you just don't know the girls as well as I do," Jason said with a shrug, grabbing the cooler of food.

"And you do?"

"Of course, well I know Kim and Trini well, at least."

"So you think you know more about Kim than I do?" Tommy asked in a friendly challenging tone.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Jason replied, lifting an eyebrow. "I've known her longer, hence I know her better." He started walking onto the beach as Tommy followed him.

"I bet you don't," Tommy replied.

"What is with people wanting to challenge me all of a sudden?" Jason asked with a little laugh. "First it's my replacement and now you. Next thing I know Adam's going to want to fight me because I said hi to Aisha." Adam blushed and turned his head away as the rest of the guys laughed. "Don't think we haven't noticed, man. You two are pretty close."

"We're friends," was all Adam said.

"You must not think of her that way by the way you look at her," Rocky said, elbowing him in the ribs.

"You do have a certain way of beholding her in a way of utmost jubilation," Billy pointed out. They all turned to look at him. He sighed and said simply, "He has a certain way of looking at her that's different from looking at Kimberly or Trini."

"See, even Billy's noticed," Rocky said lightly punching him on the arm. "Why don't you do something about it, man?"

Before Adam could reply a volleyball rolled in their direction. They looked up to see Trini standing in front of them, her hands on her hips. "Could you hurry it up, boys? I want to play some volleyball."

"Well, maybe if you'd _help_ us carry these things we'd get there faster," Rocky pointed out. She smiled and took the volleyball gear from him and carried it back to the beach by herself. "She's not human, I swear."

"I heard that," she called over her shoulder and Rocky flinched as the others laughed.

They finally got everything set up and they rushed into the lake. Melody stayed behind, promising to guard their things. Kim and Aisha tried to convince her to get into the water with them but she politely decline each time.

"Something's going on with her," Aisha said as they walked into the lake, climbing onto their inflatable raft and laying back on it.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed," Kim sighed. "She was telling me about this dream she had last night and how vivid it was. She said not to worry but I think it scared her."

"Really? What was it about?" Aisha asked. She sat there, listening intently as Kim repeated word for word what Melody had told her. "Wow, some dream. I'd be out of it as well if I had that dream."

"That's not it," Kim continued. "I'm worried that something's going on at her home. She's acting kinda the way I did when my parents split up from what Trini and Jason told me."

"Do you think something's going on with her parents?" Aisha asked.

"I don't know. But that letter thing? Remember what Rocky was telling us? If his mom kept his letters then Melody's parents would have had to keep hers as well if Rocky didn't get any. They said they were finally going to ask their parents about it. Maybe they did and they told her something that upset her. It would explain why she's suddenly totally bummed."

"Let's see if she'll talk about it. If not we can let her know that we'll be here for her when she's ready to talk."

"Good idea." The two girls rolled off of the raft and waded to the shore. "Wait," Kim said suddenly. "What about Trini?"

"She's doing fine on her own," Aisha laughed, looking where Aisha was playing Chicken with some of the guys. The girls laughed as Trini knocked over Zack. "C'mon girl, let's go." They walked up onto the beach and dropped down beside Melody, grabbing their towels and drying themselves off.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were afraid of the water," Kim tried to joke. Melody barely cracked a smile.

"I just don't trust it, what with monsters running around and all," Melody replied.

"It's perfectly safe," Aisha told her.

"Yeah, I've been coming here all my life. I've never seen a monster," Kim agreed. Melody didn't respond, she just kept looking out at the horizon. Kim glanced at Aisha who nodded and she sighed. "Look, Mel, we're worried. You were quiet on the way up here and you didn't even sing along to your favorite songs on the radio. What's going on?"

"Nothin'," Melody replied.

"Ok, I'm going to ask you again and this time I don't want you to lie to me," Kim said sternly. "What's wrong?"

Melody slowly shook her head. "My parents," she responded. "They are, uh, thinking of moving to Los Angeles." _Why did you lie, Mel? Why not just tell them the truth about your parents divorcing? It's not that hard, Kim's parents are divorced as well._ She knew the answer to her own question, it was because she didn't know if she wanted to move with her mother or not. She had an amazing dance opportunity in Los Angeles but she didn't want to leave Angel Grove either and she knew if she waited any longer her parents would probably decide for her.

"What? Why? You just got here," Aisha said.

"I know. Mom got a good job offer in Los Angeles and Mom and Dad usually don't pass up chances like that. That's why we moved here in the first place," Melody replied. "It's just…I don't want to go but they keep pushing it on me saying that I'll have an amazing dancing opportunity in Los Angeles."

"What're you going to do?" Kim asked.

Melody shrugged. "There's not much I can do, is there? If my Mom decides to take it I'll have to go." _Stop lying!_ She yelled to herself but she couldn't get the words to stop coming out of her mouth.

"If you do leave…when do you go?" Aisha asked.

"Saturday," Melody replied. Kim and Aisha sucked in their breaths. "I know, it sucks." She sighed. "Don't…don't tell Rocky about this, ok? Not until my parents have made a decision, at least. I don't want to bum him out."

"But don't you think he _will_ get bummed if you randomly leave?"

"I'll tell him, eventually, just not now. He's too happy."

"Ok," Kim sighed.

"Promise," Melody said firmly.

"We promise," Aisha said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Just don't wait too long to tell him, ok?"

"I won't," Melody promised.

"Hey guys, we're going to break out the jet skis," Rocky said as he and Adam ran up onto the beach. "You have to come out."

"Uh, no thanks, I'm going to get something to eat. I'm kind of hungry," Kim said with a small smile. "But don't let me stop you, go and have fun. I'll have everything set up for when you get hungry."

"Then you might want to get it set up I the next instant knowing Rocky," Aisha said, standing, and lightly slapping Rocky on the stomach with the back of her hand. She gave him a teasing smile and he rolled his eyes in return, smiling as well.

Adam watched the exchange with a tiny smile on his face however, on the inside; a tiny monster was clawing at his chest trying to get out, wanting to pummel Rocky into the ground. _He's my best friend, he wouldn't do anything to hurt me_, he told himself, shaking his head a bit to knock out any bad thoughts that threatened to enter his mind.

"Bammers, are you coming, or are you still afraid of the water?" Rocky asked with a good natured smile.

"I never _was _afraid of water," Melody replied.

"Right, you just wouldn't go into it because you didn't want to get your hair wet." She glared. "Come on, it's a lot of fun, I promise, and if you do fall off or start to drown or whatever I'll get you. I'm a lifeguard."

"Since when?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Since I took the test a few months ago," he replied.

"No, I think I'll just go after lunch," Melody said, shaking her head a bit. "Besides I think they're getting kinda antsy. Don't want them to wait."

"Ok, but you're taking a spin around the lake before we leave."

"Yeah yeah." She pushed Rocky's finger out of her face. They quickly did their 'secret' handshake before the Stone Canon trio dashed down the beach.

"You should've gone, I would've been fine by myself," Kim told her.

"I just didn't feel like it right now," Melody replied, watching them get the jet skis up and running and started moving across the surface of the lake.

"Hey ladies, how come you're not in the water?" Jason asked, walking over to the girls, a Frisbee in his hands.

"I wanted to get lunch set up for when they get back. They're sure to get big appetites," Kim replied.

"And I just didn't feel like it," Melody said.

"Well, do you feel like taking a walk with me?" he asked. Melody glanced at Kim, as if asking for her permission. Kim laughed and nodded, patting Melody on the back. She got up and brushed sand off of her shorts and started walking with him down the beach. They walked in silence; the only sound that filled the air was the sound of the jet skis and the water that gently lapped against the shore.

"Hey Melody, are you ok? You were kinda quiet the entire ride up," Jason finally spoke up.

"It's nothing, I just have a lot on my mind," Melody replied, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Well, it's not good to keep it bottled up. I think I can give good advice."

Melody sighed and looked up at the clear, blue sky. "You know how Rocky was saying how his mom kept his letters from him?" Jason nodded. "And if his mom kept his letters and he never got mine that means one of my parents kept mine," she continued. "Well, last night I found out why my dad kept my letters."

"Why?" Jason asked, urging her to continue.

"My dad kept my letters because my dad had an affair with Rocky's mom," Melody admitted, feeling a weight lift off her chest. She looked at Jason to see that his lips were parted slightly as if he were trying to find something to say. "So, a few days ago apparently, my mom found out. She got mad at my dad, yelled at him for a bit, and she moved out. She's planning on moving to Los Angeles and stay with my Aunt until she gets a new job."

"Oh. Mel–" Jason started.

"That's not the worst part," Melody said with a bitter laugh. "Apparently my mom and dad are letting me decide if I want to move to Los Angeles or stay here. Mom is pressuring me with a dancing opportunity in L.A. while dad is begging me to stay here and I have to decide by Saturday 'cause that's when Mom is moving out all together."

"Wow," was all Jason uttered. "I…uh…maybe you can…um…huh…"

"Yeah, it's not that easy," Melody commented shaking her head. "They're being so…so damn _selfish_!"

"How?" Jason asked.

"Because they don't care how this is going to affect me. They don't care at all; all they care about are themselves. I mean, they didn't care when they decided to just uproot us all and move here in the first place. I mean, my dad kept this from me for years. _Years_. And it's _my best friend's_ mother too! He's…_he's_ the reason Rosalie hated me for a few years. The entire fucking time I've been wondering what I did to make her hate me and now I realize it was my dad the entire freaking time!" She paused in the middle of her rant to take in a breath. "And my mom wants me to uproot against just like that? She doesn't care that I just got reconnected to Rocky, unless she wants me to move _because_ of him and if that's the case then she's being a huge bitch about it. I mean, she's just giving up a friendship because of something stupid my dad did? Well, in _her_ case I understand but Mom shouldn't make me choose to leave my friend behind _again_!"

"Uh, maybe you should sit down," he suggested, leading her over to the small dock and sat down at the edge. Melody, still steaming, glared at the horizon of the lake. "Have you talked to your parents about all of this? How you think it's unfair to you?" He asked gently. She shook her head. "I think, most importantly, you talk to your parents and make sure they understand how you feel about what they're doing to you. Otherwise, they won't understand how you're feeling at all."

"Easier said than done," she commented with a scoff.

"I know it's hard. Parents are on a different planet than us, but you'll feel better once they know," he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"This…is just so fucked up," she muttered, wiping furiously at her cheeks at the tears she didn't know had fallen.

"I know, but it'll be ok. You have all of us here to help you through it and…if you decide to leave, we'll accept that decision as well." He hugged her to his side, resting his cheek on top of her head as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey guys, lunch is…ready…" they turned around to see Kim standing behind them, squinting because of the sun, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Am I…interrupting something?" She asked slowly.

"Nothing at all," Melody replied, standing and brushing dirt off of her shorts. "I'm starved, we better get back before Rocky eats it all."

"After knowing Rocky for a bit you should know that I've come prepared in case he _does_ end up eating everything," Kim laughed although it sounded strained.

"Ok then, let's go," Jason said with a small smile. The trio walked back to where their friends were and sat down, reaching out for some of the lunch.

"Where were you guys?" Trini asked.

"By the dock, talking," Jason responded.

"About what?"

He shrugged. "Just stuff." He shifted his attention over to Kimberly who was picking at her sandwich, staring hard at it. "It won't bite you," he joked. Kim looked up and smiled at him. He frowned. The smile on her face was bright but her eyes didn't light up like they used to. "Are you ok, Kim?" He asked in concern, getting everyone's attention.

"Yeah, I'm just kinda tired," she replied. "Didn't get much sleep, I'm excited for the school's Expo. What are you guys going to do for it anyway?"

"Jase and I were thinking of doing a martial arts demonstration," Tommy replied, nudging his friend and grinning.

Kim rolled her eyes and frowned in a playful manner. "That's what they expect you to do. Last I checked this Talent Expo was to show people something that others don't know."

"Yeah, like I'm going to do some magic," Zack said with a grin. "I'm sure to win Angela over that way." The others laughed. This was idea # 347 in the book of ideas to win over the girl of his dreams. "What about you, Trini?"

"I wanted to do something for the Japanese part of my family instead of the Vietnamese side so I decided to do a demonstration on the art of Origami," she replied happily. "Not only does it take delicate hands and patience but it also helps take away stress."

"It's just folding paper," Rocky commented with a full mouth, bits of chicken falling out of his sandwich onto his knee. He scooped up the pieces and shoved them into the mouth as the others looked at him in disgust. "How does that help you 'relax'?" He did finger quotes with one hand.

Trini's eyes flashed. "Origami is not as easy as it looks."

"Then what do you call a cootie catcher?" He asked.

"Hey Rocks, what's your favorite flower?" Melody asked suddenly.

"I don't know, daisies? Why?" He questioned.

"I'm just trying to figure out what flowers you want for your grave," she replied, noticing the murderous look in Trini's eyes.

"Don't, Trin, he's just being ignorant," Jason said, patting her on the knee. She nodded but didn't take her eyes off of Rocky who seemed to shrink under her gaze. "What were you planning on doing?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought of anything yet. I don't really do anything besides martial arts," he replied with a shrug.

"Except eat," Adam pointed out. "You could have an Expo all about eating."

Aisha suddenly got a mischievous grin on her face. "Or you could do your Expo with Melody on dancing."

Rocky laughed. "I don't dance, Sha."

"Yes you do," she insisted. Rocky's eyes hardened and he stared at Aisha as if begging her not to continue. Her smile got bigger as she looked at Adam. "Remember? Summer, eighth grade?" A light bulb must've gone off in Adam's head because he started laughing hysterically.

"What's going on? Did we miss a joke?" Tommy asked. Adam managed to shake his head before bursting into another round of laughter. "Then what is it?"

"Rocky–" Aisha started.

"Aisha, I swear…" Rocky threatened, suddenly serious. Kimberly's eyebrows flew up. She has _never_ heard Rocky sound so serious before, but he surpassed normal seriousness. No, he was _dead_ serious. His jaw was clenched and a muscle was twitching in the side and his brown eyes were hard, glaring at Aisha.

Aisha decided to take him on. "Rocky DeSantos, _this_ Rocky DeSantos, can salsa dance." Everyone was dead silent before sounds of air passing through pressed lips filled the air and they burst out laughing. Kim didn't laugh; she just had a look of disbelief on her face. Billy actually seemed interested in what she had said and Melody was sitting there with a half amused, half intrigued look on her face. Rocky blushed and looked down at his lap.

"You promised you wouldn't say anything," he muttered as the laughter died down. He could feel Melody's eyes burning holes into the side of his head.

"I don't get why you've been keeping it a secret, you're really good at it," Aisha said, shaking her head. "Good enough to win _three_ first place prizes in the competitions you've entered," she continued in a firm tone, causing the laughter to die down. "The way I see it, you and Mels could team up and enter the Expo together. It'll be a great way to show the students a dance from a different culture _and_ I'm sure Ms. Appleby will enjoy the demonstration."

"That's _not_ the point, Aisha!" Rocky cried, jumping to his feet. They all stared at him in shock. The serious side to Rocky was something rarely seen but the mad side of Rocky was even rarer. "I _told_ you I didn't want to talk about it but you go and blab anyway."

"Whoa, man, I think you need to calm down," Tommy said, getting to his feet and holding his hands out in front of him incase Rocky decided to strike something. "Aisha was just trying to help."

"I didn't _ask_ for her help. She needs to mind her own damn business."

"That's enough, Rocky," Adam said sternly, also getting to his feet. "Aisha was just trying to give you an idea for something to do at the Expo, it's not like she stabbed you in the back or anything. We know you're having a rough time at home but there's no need to take it out on her."

"Just…forget it!" Rocky snapped, shoving Adam away from him. He stomped down the beach to get to the jet skis that were sitting on the lip of the sand.

"Rocky, stop!" Kim called after him but he wouldn't stop moving. "Sorry Aisha," she hastily apologized for him. Aisha had been sitting there, her mouth open slightly as Rocky yelled at her, a hurt expression on was on her face. "I'll go get him."

"No, I will," Melody said, jumping up and running after him.

"I was only trying to help," Aisha explained.

"We know, Sha," Adam said, kneeling next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Rocky's just in a bad place right now. I don't want to make excuses for him, but he's not himself. Please don't take it personally, I'm sure once he calms down he'll come back and apologize for everything. Ok? Don't dwell on it; things have been rough for him." Aisha nodded and patted Adam's hand, whispering thank you under her breath. "Everything will be ok, you'll see."

Rocky had gotten to the jet ski and was hastily pulling on his life jacket when Melody reached him. "Pebbles, stop, you're being ridiculous!" She said sternly, pushing her jet black hair out of her face. "Get off that thing and go back and apologize to Aisha."

"I _told_ her to stop talking about it," Rocky said without turning around.

"She was just trying to help you, Pebbles! It's not like she killed your dog!" Melody cried out, throwing her arms into the air. "Aisha's your friend."

"She didn't act like one," Rocky muttered. "I didn't want anyone to know for a reason. I didn't want anyone making fun of me."

"Do you _hear_ us making fun of you? And if anyone should be upset it should be me."

"You!" Rocky whirled around and looked at her as if she were crazy. "Why should you be upset?"

"Well, for one thing, you kept that from me. We don't keep things from each other, Pebbles. For all I know, you could have been keeping the fact that your mom and my dad had an affair from me, too. Because of you finding out about the freaking letters that your mother kept in the freaking first place, I found out that because of your same mother my parents are getting divorced!" Melody shouted at him.

Rocky stood there, stunned. "Your parents are splitting up?" He questioned.

"_Yes_! My dad kept my letters so I wouldn't tell you of the affair that my dad and your mom had. My mom found out and she's currently packing up her stuff and leaving for Los Angeles while my dad mopes around like a freaking wounded puppy! All the while you're acting like a jackass because Aisha spilled one secret. You're acting like it's the end of the freaking world when, really, you're lucky your family is still intact!"

Rocky didn't know what to say. She just dropped a huge bomb on him and he suddenly realized how ridiculous he was acting. "Woooow, Imma jerk," he muttered.

"You get that way sometimes," Melody commented.

"Do you want to go for a ride now? I don't know about you but I don't think I'm going to be welcomed back that easily, especially after I blew up at Aisha."

"Uh…yeah sure. They wanted me to make sure you cooled off anyway." She took the lifejacket he was holding out to her and slipped it on before helping him push the jet ski into the water. He got on first and she got on behind him, resting her hands on his waist as she surged the jetski forward.

"Yes! Now's the perfect moment!" Rita cackled, moving her telescope out of the way. "Goldar! Go to the park with Putties to distract the Rangers. VooDoo Monster, I want you to get Melody and bring her back here."

"This is a big waste of time," Zedd announced. "I am finally close to finding the location to our ultimate weapon to defeating the Power Rangers."

"I've spent too much time planning this to stop now," Rita snapped at Zedd. "Go, now, before it's too late!" She ordered.

"Yes your evilness," Goldar said with a little salute before he, some putties, and the VooDoo monster disappeared in a flash of light.

"You're wasting your time," Zedd repeated to Rita.

"You're right, I am," she replied, turning to face him. "I'm wasting my time being with you. I haven't done anything but become held back whenever it comes to fighting the Power Rangers or sending down monsters. I have more power than this but you're what's stopping me from coming out on top."

"Newsflash, Motormouth, the _Power Rangers_ are what's stopping you from coming out on top, not me," Zedd pointed out.

"No! You're the one who keeps holding me back and stopping me from reaching my full potential! I can beat the Power Rangers! I can!" Rita ignored the fact that she sounded like a kid throwing a tantrum. Zedd could really get on her nerves sometimes and it was that that drove her to wanting to prove herself to him.

Zedd chuckled. "We'll see, Rita, we'll see. I might as well get comfortable, once your plan fails _again_ you're going to want to kiss my feet and beg me to help you."

Rita made a face.

"What was that?" Melody yelled over the side of the jet ski as they sped across the lake. Something had shot at the water next to them and exploded. She ducked when a beam of energy flew over her head and hit the water behind them, spraying mist onto them. She glanced towards the beach and saw that some Putties and Goldar had appeared. "Looks like we have some company," she told Rocky.

"Yeah, one that apparently wants to turn us into Swiss cheese," Rocky added, jerking the handlebar of the jet ski to avoid another beam of energy. Melody looked in the direction where the energy blasts were coming from and saw a monster standing on the little island in the middle of the lake. It was human-like in shape but had a giant clock on its stomach and seemed to resemble a grandfather clock. "Hold on, Mel." She wrapped her arms around his stomach as he sped up and quickly turned, creating a wave of water as he tried to speed off in the opposite direction.

"There's no point in running. You might as well give up the girl," the monster called.

"Oh great, now they're looking for me personally," Melody muttered sarcastically. _'The monster's not going to stop until it gets me. There's no point in letting the others get hurt but I don't know what they–'_

Her thought was cut off when a beam of energy hit the water right underneath the jet ski. The force of the blast made the jet ski flipped. Her world spun around as she and Rocky were hurtled towards the surface of the lake. She closed her eyes before she smacked into the water. The next thing she knew her body slammed against cold, stone floor.

"Finally the monster got you," Rita's voice rang out. Melody slowly pushed herself to her knees. She tapped her chin. "Maybe I won't need to use the monster. Maybe I could just turn you evil and use you against the Power Rangers. They wouldn't be able to touch you and I could finally take over the world."

"I wouldn't help you do _anything_," Melody spat, glaring at the witch.

Rita rolled her eyes. "You're helping me by just being here. You, little girl, are going to help me defeat the Power Rangers once and for all."

"How?" Melody questioned, glaring hard at Rita.

"You're not going to survive so I might as well tell you my plan," Rita said as calmly as someone saying that a tissue box was on a table. "The monster that I sent to attack you and your friends? It has a part of your DNA in it." She smiled maliciously. "Whatever attack they land on the monster…hurts you instead. It's up to them to decide if they're rather save the Earth and sacrifice you or sacrifice the Earth and save you." She cackled as the color drained from Melody's face. "But what makes you so special?" Rita continued. "Why would I want to capture you, a normal human? What makes you so special?" Rita then laughed.

"What's so funny?" Melody demanded, trying to stall for time.

"What you don't know what's right under your nose," Rita replied. "What you don't know?" She asked in fake shock. "Since it's your last moments of life I'll tell you the one thing your so called best friends wouldn't tell you." She took a step closer to Melody. "Your friends, your former friends really, are the Power Rangers."

"You're lying. They wouldn't keep something like that from me," Melody snarled but in the back of her head all her previous suspicions pointed towards the answer. They did run off randomly quite a bit, which was odd because they all went off together and came back blurting out some random excuse. If a group of Putties attacked more times than not they made her leave them to fight the Putties alone. Now that she thought of it, after watching numerous news reports their fighting styles really did resemble those of her friends, such as how the Pink Ranger tended to use more of an acrobatic fighting style. And they _did_ dress in the same colors as certain rangers for the most part…

Rita smiled when she saw that the news was sinking into Melody's brain. "Sorry to break it to ya, but I figured you might as well know before your own friends kill you."


	15. The Doll Queen Part III

**Chapter 14:**

_**The Doll Queen Part III

* * *

**_

"Rocky!" Kim called, rushing over to the second Red who had managed to crawl onto the beach, coughing heavily. "Rocky, I'm so glad you're ok," she said, pulling him into a hug. He pushed her away and shook his head. "Rock–,"

"I should've protected her better," he muttered, glaring at the sand. "This is my fault. I should've protected her!" His fingers disappeared into the sand as he curled his hands into fists. "I should've done something."

"Rocky, this isn't your fault," Kim told him, placing her hands on his shoulders and looking him right in the eye. "There was nothing we could you. You two were practically sitting ducks out there. You did the best you could."

"No!" He shoved her away. "I could've done better. I know I could have! And…and…I didn't even get back in time to help you guys…and Tommy's got a bad bruise because of it," he said, finally noticing the bruise that was beginning to form on Tommy's arm.

"Ah, that's nothing, I've gotten worse," Tommy said with a wave of his hand.

"But Kimberly is correct. While out in the water you and Melody were potentially cornered without a chance of getting out of there easily," Trini said, placing a hand on Rocky's shoulder. "You did the best we could and that's all that we can ever ask of you." She felt his shoulders slump underneath his hand and she smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry; I'm sure Alpha and Zordon are making a plan right now on how to get her back." As soon as the sentence left her mouth the six-tone beep reached their ears. "See?" She said happily as everyone gathered around Tommy.

"We're all here," Tommy announced.

"Rangers, I need you all to teleport to the Command Center immediately. It's urgent," Zordon's booming voice came in through the small gadget on Tommy's wrist.

"We're on our way." Tommy looked at the others to make sure they were ready to teleport. Once he saw that they were they simultaneously pushed a button on the gadget and were engulfed in lights of white, black, pink, yellow, blue, and red. Seconds later they had arrived in the Command Center and looked around. Alarms and sirens were going off as Alpha 5 rushed around, pressing buttons and muttering under his breath. "What's going on, Zordon?"

"First I would like to say that it is great seeing some familiar faces," Zordon started, smiling down at Zack, Trini, and Jason who were standing near the back of the group.

"The reunion can come later Zordon," Jason said politely but taking a leader-like tone to his voice as he looked up at the being. "Melody was taken while we were at the lake."

"I know. That is why I called you all here," Zordon said, nodding.

"She's been a target of many attacks lately. Do you have any idea why?" Trini questioned.

"May I?" Billy asked, looking at Zordon before looking at his friend. "I just have a theory if it's all right with you all." They nodded and waited for him to explain. "We've been saying lately that Rita and Zedd have been quiet on the monster front. Then, all of a sudden, once Melody arrives they start attacking her specifically." He then turned to the Original members of the team. "Do you remember Parents Day? When Rita and Zedd took our Parents?" They nodded, giving each other looks. Aisha, Rocky, and Adam looked around, trying to get a story out of them with their eyes. Billy caught their looks and sighed. "As I earlier stated, we were having Parents Day at school. Rita and Zedd decided to kidnap our parents to give us a sort of ultimatum: give them our powers or take away our parents." He paused when Trini made a sobbing sound.

"Sorry," she apologized, waving her hand in front of her face. "I'm sorry, it's just…I really thought we were going to lose everything that day. That was the worst day of my life." Jason wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side. Kim grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze as well as a gentle smile.

"We ended up being tricked into giving Goldar our Power Coins. We thought that they would actually take over the world. However, we still had the Dragonzord Power Coin which Tommy used to fight Goldar and get our Power Coins back. As you can see, we succeeded." He paused to smile at Tommy, thanking him again with his eyes. Tommy merely nodded as his response. "Rita and Zedd, I believe, went back over their previous plans and realized that they can really hurt us if they take away something that is important to us, like our parents."

"So they took Melody because…" Kim started.

"She's important to Rocky, affirmative," Billy said with a sigh. "Not just him, to all of us. They know our identity, that's not a secret. They target us whenever they think we've vulnerable, hence attacking while we were at the lake. My theory is that they attacked her out of anyone else we know because they _want_ her to find out who we are so they can turn her against us and make her evil."

"They're too dumb for that," Rocky commented.

"Zedd and Rita can be creative when they want to be," Jason told him. "Getting someone we know to turn on us isn't new for them." He glanced at Tommy out of the corner of his eye to gauge his reaction. Tommy let out a soft, sharp breath as he looked at the ground. It was obvious that his best friend still felt bad for what he did, even if he was under a spell and couldn't control himself. "They could probably be trying to make her another evil Ranger about now."

"They could be. They could be doing something else as well," Billy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, what about that monster that was sent? That attacked Rocky? Do you have any readings on it or anything, Alpha?" Adam asked, turning to the robot.

"Indeed I do, Adam," Alpha replied, pushing buttons. "That monster is called the Voodoo Monster."

"Voodoo Monster?" Aisha repeated. "Like those dolls?"

"Yeah, the kind where if you supposedly punch a certain part of the doll the person that it looks like will get hurt in that same area. Technically speaking," Billy agreed.

"Who knew Zedd liked to play with dolls?" Rocky joked. His laugh sounded hollow and his forced smile didn't reach his eyes. Aisha glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but didn't say anything about his bad attempt at a joke. She knew he was trying to lighten the mood but at the same time she knew he was trying to hide what he was really feeling inside.

"But that monster doesn't look anything like Melody," Kim pointed out.

"There's a reason for its name though. We should go and try to figure it out," Adam said.

"Is there anything we can do, Zordon?" Trini asked hopefully. Kim smiled a little and placed her hand on the small of Trini's back. She could feel it in her bones that Trini wished she could be fighting with them again. Kim wished it too. She always wished the original team was back together fighting evil together again, like old times. However, she liked the new team too, their fighting style was different, and they were better than ever. She sighed inaudibly. If only Jason, Trini, and Zack found a new power and they could all be one big team.

"I'm afraid there isn't much you can do right now, Trini," Zordon replied. "The last thing we need is for you to get hurt. We don't know what this monster is capable of."

"I understand, Zordon." Trini turned to Kimberly and squeezed her hands. "Try to stay somewhat safe, please?"

Kim laughed and gave her a hug. "I can't promise you much, Trin," Kim said. She hugged Jason and Zack as well before joining her group. They glanced at each other to make sure they were ready before teleporting out in flashes of light.

"We know that Zedd and Rita have her somewhere. Do you think you could find her, Alpha?" Zack asked, hovering over some of the controls. "Search for her DNA or molecular pattern or something?"

"I'll give it a try," Alpha replied while pushing buttons on the control panel. Jason and Trini turned to the Viewing Globe that suddenly lit up with static. Their eyes searched the static, trying to find something. All of a sudden the Voodoo Monster appeared on screen.

"Wait, why'd the picture of the Voodoo Monster come up?" Zack asked, looking at Zordon.

"We were using a search based on Melody's DNA," Jason muttered, rubbing his chin. His eyes suddenly widened and he snapped. "That's it! Rita and Zedd, they used her DNA in the monster. That's why it showed up on the Viewing Globe. That's why it's called the Voodoo Monster. Right?" he turned to look at Zordon.

"I believe your deduction is right, Jason," Zordon redplied. "Alpha, could you scan the monster for any trace of Melody's DNA?"

"Right away, Zordon," Alpha replied, pushing more buttons. A few minutes later their fears were confirmed.

"If the monster is called the Voodoo Monster…and it has Melody's DNA made into it…" Trini gasped. "A voodoo doll is used to cause harm to the one it's made after. This monster, it's made with Melody's DNA. What if, when they attack the monster, it causes Melody pain like an actual voodoo doll?" Her theory hung in the air. Zack, Trini, and Jason looked at each other with mixtures of fear, anger, and shock on their faces.

"Man, this is messed up. I knew Rita and Zedd were evil but they put themselves over the top this time," Zack said, shaking his head.

"We have to do something, Zordon. I can't just sit around and let my friends get hurt without having any way to defeat this monster," Jason said, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Please, is there any way at all we can help them? Do something? Anything?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much you can do right now, Jason," Zordon replied sadly. "All you can do is wait."

* * *

Melody sank until she was sitting down, staring off into the distance. No matter how many times she went over it in her head she couldn't get herself to face the truth. _My friends are the Power Rangers? They would've told me…wouldn't they? Maybe not, I don't really know them aside from Rocky…they could be hiding anything from me…_

Rita had left hours ago. Was it hours? Could've been minutes or days for all she knew. Her watch didn't work in that weird dimension. The only scenery she got was a picture of the Earth. That was it. It was the only insight she had to where she was, and that was not Earth.

She was about to sigh again when her breath got caught in her throat as she felt pressure on her abdomen. Before she could even move or make a sound the pressure suddenly exploded in pain. She let out a strangled gasp and her arms flew to her abs but she let out another cry of pain when she felt pain on the side of her head as if she had been licked near the ear.

That's when pain popped up everywhere on her body, repeatedly. She couldn't even think as the pain got worse with every hit. She rolled onto her side, curling into a ball, her teeth clenching, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Oh God…make it stop!" She whimpered.

Rita's evil cackle filled her ears. She managed to open her eyes to see the witch's large dress in her view. "The only way the pain will stop is if you or the monster dies or you join our side abd become evil, serving us and destroying the Power Rangers!"

"Neh…never," Melody groaned, rolling onto her hands and knees. The pain was less frequent now, somewhat bearable. She managed to get to her feet and swayed slightly. "I'd…I'd rather take what you dish out than turn against my friends."

"But _are_ they your friends?" Rita asked, slowly circling the young girl like a hungry lioness. "They never told you their secret, and that's a pretty big one to keep from a _friend_, don't you think?"

"I'm sure…they have their reasons," Melody managed to get out, spitting out the weird, bitter substance. She stared hard at the substance that landed on the floor.

Blood.

Had she gotten hit in the mouth? She reached her hand up to her mouth, ignoring the smile that split across Rita's face. She pulled her finger out of her mouth and grimaced at the ruby red liquid coating her finger.

"It's only a matter of time," Rita smiled. "Zeddy will have to worship me now." She threw her head back and cackled.

Melody quickly covered her ears. "If the monster doesn't kill me that laugh sure will," she muttered. Then it hit her. _What if I never see past these walls ever again?_

* * *

"It's no use, we can't put a good hit on him," Adam panted, resting an arm on his knee. Once the rangers had found the Voodoo Monster at the park they quickly saw his power and morphed, Every attack they threw at the monster he shot back at them, only ten times more powerful. How they managed to fight him as long as they have been was unknown to them.

"Why don't we just use our Zords and squash this bug?" Rocky demanded.

"You know the rules! We can't escalate a battle!" Kimberly told him, holding her chest, panting.

"We can't beat this guy, Kim!"

"We have to try!"

"We've _been_ trying!"

"Guys, this is no time to turn on each other," Aisha said, pushing her way between them. "We have to work together, settle your differences later!"

"Rangers, I need you to report back to the Command Center immediately," Alpha's voice came over their communicators.

"But what about the monster?" Kim asked.

"Better do as Alpha says," Billy sighed. The Rangers put their hands on their morphers and teleported back to the Command Center.

Rocky fought the urge to whip off his helmet and throw it at Kimbelry. He knew she was just trying to help but still. She just didn't understand, his best friend had been captured right before his eyes and he couldn't even do anything about it. Who knows what kind of torture she's going through? The thought alone scared him all the way down to his toes.

His mind was in a haze. The only thing he got out of what Zordon was saying was something about a DNA link and Rita and Zedd holding Melody on the moon. That was all he needed to hear. He kept an eye on the others as she slowly and quietly backed away from the ground, whose backs were turned to him. 

_They don't understand. You'll do better without them there trying to stop you,_ he told himself as he quietly grabbed his helmet, his eyes glued to their backs. He quietly moved a hand to his morpher, pushing a button, and teleported out of the Command Center. His feet slammed against the ground of the smokey palace of Rita and Zedd. He powered down and waved his hand in front of his face, coughing at the smoke that filled his lungs. "Ugh, these guys need to tidy up around here. What lives here, pigs?" He muttered to himself, slowly walking down the hallway. He stayed close to the wall as he got near a corner. He leaned past it enough so he could see with one eye.

Rita and Zedd were pacing around the area as Goldar stood back and watched them. "This plan will work, Zeddy! Why won't you trust me?"

"Why should I? All of your plans have failed."

"But this one is working! Don't you see? They can't attack my monster because they know it hurts Melody. Putting her DNA in the monster was a good idea! Admit it. We don't have to use whatever it is we're looking for. I'm taking over without you even having to lift a finger." She cackled and Rocky winced at the sound.

"This plan is going to fall apart just like your other plans," Zedd shot back. "What kind of DNA sample did you use?"

"A hair," Rita said proudly.

"A hair!" Zedd laughed. "Of all of the sources of DNA you could've used you used a hair!"

"A hair, huh? Adam said something about being attacked by Putties while they were horseback riding. Maybe that's how they got it, by using the Putties as a distraction," Rocky muttered to himself as he backed away quietly. He turned and ran down the hallway, trying to think of how to get to Melody. There was no doubt that Rita and Zedd had her captured in an isolated room somewhere, but how would he get there?

He suddenly got an idea. It was a crazy one but he had to try, didn't he. He backed further into the hallway, making sure he was covered by darkness and smoke. He brought his hand up to his communicator and pushed a button, keeping his thoughts on finding Melody. He closed his eyes as he was engulfed in light and he felt a tug before his feet were lifted off the floor. The next thing he knew his feet had slammed back onto the ground so hard he almost lost his balance. He opened his eyes and let out a groan when he saw the same scenery before, nothing but a black wall with smoke. He was about to push a button again when he heard a groan.

He whipped his head around and searched the area. Nothing. He was about to wonder if he had heard things when the smoke cleared a little bit and revealed a figure on the ground. Rocky walked towards it slowly, his hand on his morpher just in case. His breath got caught in his throat when he recognized the jet black hair.

"Bamemrs!" He cried, rushing over to her and dropping to his knees. He gently lifted her upperbody so he was cradling her head by his chest. He gently pushed her hair out of her face to get a better look at her. Her eyes were closed; a lip was split and bleeding, the other slightly puffy. Scratches, scrapes, and bruises littered her face, arms, neck, and legs. Her shirt had random tears and holes as well as her shorts. Her lips parted slightly and she sucked in a rattling breath that squeezed Rocky's heart before coughing. Blood fell over her bottom lip, dripping onto her t-shirt. "Oh, Bammers. Don't worry, we'll get you out of here," he whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead. He moved his other arm under her legs, easily lifting her into the air. His heart raced when he felt how limp she was. He shifted her weight slightly to balance her as he tried to reach his communicator.

"It's the end of the line, Red Ranger!"

Rocky whirled around but he didn't get a chance to see who his attacked was when he was hit hard over the head. His world tilted as black started to fade in. he vaguely felt Melody's weight leave his arms before he crashed to the ground and was swallowed in darkness.


	16. The Doll Queen Part IV

**Chapter 15: **

_**The Doll Queen Part IV

* * *

**_

Rocky's head pounded in time with his heart beat. A strange dusty air filled his lungs every time he took in a breath. His eyelids twitched and all feeling came back to him. He took in a raspy breath and forced his eyes open. The only thing he saw was dust and cobwebs hanging off of the walls.

He sucked in his breath and placed a hand on the floor, to push himself up. He felt a hand grip his arm and help him sit up. His eyes rested on blue ones which were staring back at him. "Mel," he muttered, recognizing that it was her helping him. "I'm so glad you're ok," he sighed with relief, reaching out to hug her. The fierce gaze in her eyes stopped him. His heart dropped. "What?" He asked. "What is it?"

"How could you?" She demanded. He flinched at the glare that was in her eyes set on a face that had been beaten pretty badly.

He wracked his brain thinking about what it was he could've done that she could've been mad at him for but he couldn't think of anything. "Do what?"

"Not tell me your secret," she replied, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth only for it to be replaced with another trickle. "It's a pretty big secret, Rocky, and we tell each other _everything_!"

"What, that I still don't eat broccoli?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Not that, dunder head!" Rocky was surprised despite how beat up she was that she still held onto her sarcasm. "I mean about not telling me that you and the others are the Power Rangers!" Rocky's body turned to ice. He didn't know what to do. Pretend that he didn't hear what she said? Make up some lie about how they're not the Power Rangers even though they really are? Just deny everything and say she got hit on the head?

He opened his mouth but nothing would come out. He didn't expect this to happen. He wanted to tell her himself, when he was ready and when Alpha and Zordon said it was ok, which he doubted would ever happen. "H…How do you know?" He questioned.

"You guys don't make it obvious, that's for sure," she replied, pausing to take in a deep breath. She coughed and spat blood onto the floor and blinked rapidly, taking in another deep breath as she held onto her chest. "I mean, you wear the same colors as them. All the—" she coughed again "—all the time. And anyone could piece together that the way the rangers fight is the same way you guys do if they watch the news long enough and seen you in competitions. The Pink Ranger has a lot of the same gymnastics moves as Kim does. I'm surprised Bulk and Skull didn't figure that out."

"Bammers, I'm so sorry," he whispered, reaching out to her but she managed to slap his hand away. "What'd they do to you?"

Her bitter laugh quickly turned into a series of coughs. "What do you think," she wheezed. "The funny thing was…" she took in a long breath. "I saw this coming."

Rocky blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I had this weird dream. Being at the lake and then…and then…suddenly I was in pain. _This_ pain, to be exact."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm sorry to break up this heartfelt moment," Goldar's gravelly voice spun around the chamber. Rocky tensed and looked around, his eyes narrowing when he spotted Goldar.

"Sorry. Right, just like I'll be _sorry_ when I break your legs," Rocky hissed, clenching his hands into fists. Rocky reached for his morpher but gripped air. _What!_ He turned his head back and his heart stopped when he couldn't find his morpher. Rocky's hand flew to his wrist and he gasped when the only thing looking back at him was a bare wrist.

Goldar threw his head back and laughed. "Your time's up, Red Ranger. However, I'm going to let you watch your little friend die before I execute you as well."

* * *

"Is there _anything_ we can do, Zordon?" Kim asked, pacing in front of the control panels of the Command Center. "Anything at all? What if…what if we…?" She shook her head and covered her mouth with her hands. Aisha rubbed her back in between the shoulder blades. "I won't be able to live with myself knowing that we hurt her, guys."

"It's not our fault, Kim," Adam said, rubbing her shoulder. "Zedd and Rita were just too smart for once."

"Guys, you're talking like you're giving up," Tommy said in disbelief.

"What else is there for us to do, Tommy? Every time we touch that monster we hurt her," Aisha said, turning to him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "If we don't attack the monster then the city will be destroyed and Rita and Zedd will win!"

"No they won't. They haven't before and they won't now."

"Tommy, the odds are against us," Trini said softly. "We have to think things through before we just go charging off and hurting people we care about."

"Rocky, what do you thi—Rocky? Rocky?" Kim looked around at the group of friends that were standing around the room. "Guys, where's Rocky?"

"What do mean 'where's Rocky'? He's right…" Adam turned to point at the spot where Rocky had been standing before only to see air. "He _was _right there. Where'd he go?"

"You don't think he went to try and get Melody back, do you?" Zack asked.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Aisha sighed, wiping at her eyes. "When Rocky puts his mind to something he goes after it until he physically can't anymore."

"Someone has to go after him," Kim said sternly.

"I'll go back," Tommy offered.

"No, Tommy, we need you here," Alpha told him. "I think I have come up with a plan but we're going to need Saba to do it."

"Then I'll go after him," Adam offered.

"No," Jason spoke up. "I'll go after him."

"Jason, are you sure?" Trini asked.

"Trini is right to be worried, Jason," Zordon boomed. "You don't have the Power anymore so it would be significantly harder to fight Goldar or any other monster that gets in your way."

"I know, Zordon, but I feel that I have to be the one to bring them both back," Jason replied. "I can't shake this feeling. I know this is what I have to do to be able to help the team out. I don't know what I have to do exactly but I'm sure it will come to me."

"Jason, this could prove to be very dangerous."

"I know, Zordon, I know, but I have to do this." He turned and smiled at his friends, trying to comfort them. "Don't worry guys; I'll bring them back safely."

"Stay safe, man," Tommy said, lightly hitting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks." Jason nodded at the others before turning to Zordon and waited to be teleported. He closed his eyes at the slightly tingling sensation that covered him from head to toe. He missed the feeling. The next thing he knew he was standing inside a smoke filled room. The walls were very familiar, so were the smell and the feeling of thick tension that hung in the air.

Jason slowly walked down the hall, not knowing what to expect. He half expected putties to jump out at him and take him straight to Rita and Zedd. It wasn't like he was a Power Ranger anymore; they could easily destroy him if they wanted to.

But why hadn't they? They had plenty of choices and yet somehow they always seemed to fail. Was it that they _liked_ coming up with new plans instead of destroying them? Jason laughed at his own thought. They wouldn't keep them around, they wanted the Earth and they wanted the Power Rangers out of the way too bad.

Jason was about to turn the corner of the hallway when he stumbled. He threw his hands out in front of him to break his fall. His palms stung a little bit but they weren't hurt too badly.

"Jason."

Jason lifted his head and locked eyes with Rocky. "Rocky, what're you-?"

"Jason, look out!" Rocky yelled.

Jason whipped his head around and quickly rolled out of the way of the sword that was coming towards his head. "Huh. Goldar. Should've known it was you," he said as he clenched his hands into fists.

"What're you doing back here, Red Ranger?" Goldar demanded. "I thought you were still at that Peace Summit that we sent you to."

"What?" Jason hissed, his hands clenching even tighter if it were possible. "_You_ had something to do with the Peace Summit?"

"Of course," Goldar replied. "You didn't think you got there on your own, did you? Rita and Zedd knew that splitting up the Power Rangers would be your ultimate downfall, but they brought in three new brats that just kept getting in the way."

"Rocky, I can take on Goldar," Jason said without looking at his successor.

"No way, I'm not letting you have all the fun," Rocky protested.

"You have to watch Melody and make sure she doesn't get worse."

"But what can you do without your Ranger Power?"

"Enough."

* * *

"Do you really think this will work?" Aisha asked worriedly.

"It's the only plan we have," Adam pointed out.

"But what happens if…?" Kim's voice trailed off.

"We can only hope for the best, Kim," Tommy said, squeezing her shoulder. "Jason should be able to get them out soon so we can get Rocky's help."

"Are you sure that Jason can get them out? I mean, he doesn't have his powers anymore," Adam pointed out.

"I'm positive. Jason was able to get out of the Chamber of Command once before in his human form, he can do it again." He turned to Billy. "Is the machine up and running yet?" He asked.

"Almost, we just have to wait for the core to heat up and then we'll be ready to go," Billy said as he pushed a few buttons on the machine that was standing tall beside them.

"What does this thing do again?" Kim asked.

"If my calculations are correct it should help us find the source of the Voodoo Monster's DNA link to Melody. Once we find that we can sever the link, destroy the monster, and get Melody back to the Command Center."

"OK," Kim sighed. She looked in the distance where small explosions went off every few seconds. She held her breath as she continued to watch. She hated sitting back and not being able to do anything to help. She especially hated the position they were in. She constantly wondered how Zedd and Rita actually became smart.

"Ok Kim, Aisha, it's time to work," Tommy ordered.

"Right," Aisha and Kim nodded. "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Saber-toothed Tiger!"

The two girls morphed into their Power Ranger forms and then called on their Zords, before speeding off in the direction of the monster. They had to get him out of the city and to the mountains for their plan to work. The boys stayed back and watched as the girls' Zords got smaller in the distance.

"Are you _sure_ this will work?" Tommy asked again.

"Affirmative," Billy replied, adjusting the glasses that were perched on his nose. "Trini noticed that Zedd and Rita left one hole in their plan and that's when we came up with the idea of this machine. It will work, as long as there are no slipups on our part." He glanced at the Zords that were now flying towards the mountain. "Do you remember what to do with Saba?" Tommy nodded. "Good, it's time for us to move in, Adam."

* * *

Jason held his chest as he fell to one knee. He didn't remember Goldar being that strong. Goldar was easily beating him and Rocky into the ground. He would've thought that Rocky would've morphed them out by now until Goldar taunted them about having taken Rocky's communicator and morpher.

The two did their best to fight against the large golden monkey but were having a lot of trouble dodging the large sword he constantly swung around. It didn't help matters when he brought Putties in to slow them down.

"Give up Power Rangers. Soon your powers will be ours," Goldar laughed evilly.

"Ugh…if only I could get to my morpher," Rocky groaned, holding his bleeding arm.

"I _told_ you to stay with Melody—"

"I can't let you get beaten up like that."

"Which Red Ranger to get rid of first? Eenie meenie miney mo," Goldar taunted, moving his sword back and forth, using it as a pointer.

A strangled scream of pain filled the chamber. The two Reds turned and saw Melody curled into a ball, holding her sides, tears streaming down her face as she continued to scream in pain.

"Heheheh, it's only a matter of time. You know our deal, girl. If you want the pain to go away you're going to have to join Lord Zedd and Empress Rita and help us conquer the Earth!"

_C'mon Rocky, think think. There's gotta be something you can do!_

* * *

"Aaaah!" Kim yelled as her Zord was knocked over by one of the Voodoo Monster's arms. "Billy, what's going on? I thought the machine was going to work all ready!" She twisted her joystick and managed to steer her Zord out of the way.

"It was supposed to. I don't understand what's going on," Billy said as he tinkered with the machine that was sitting in his Zord.

"Well you better hurry up and find out. We can't hold him off much longer and we need Rocky to transform into the Megazord," Aisha said as she steered her Zord to ram into the Voodoo Monster's legs, wincing at the thought of hurting her friend.

"I don't get it, it should have—whoa!" Billy cried out as the machine was suddenly engulfed in a bright white light.

"What's going on, Billy?" Adam asked, moving his controls to get out of the way of the Voodoo Monster's feet that were trying to stomp on him.

"I don't know, I think the systems override!" Billy replied. He blinked when a beam of energy shot through his window, materializing through it, and then shot off towards the distance.

"What was that?" Tommy's voice rang near his head.

"I have no idea."

* * *

"This is the end of the line, Red Rangers. I think I'll get rid of you first. Your mouth is starting to get on my nerves," Goldar said as he pointed his sword in between Rocky's eyes.

Before Goldar could move a bright white light filled the chamber. It was so bright that they all had to shield their eyes. Goldar dropped his weapon and stumbled a bit, covering his eyes. Jason, through squinted lids, managed to drop a kick on the golden ape. Goldar fell backwards, crashing into the wall, letting out a string of curses.

Rocky used his arms to cover his eyes and felt a weird sort of inflated feeling fill him up, as if he was a balloon being filled with helium. He slowly lowered his arms and noticed that the light faded but a beam of it was moving around the room. It paused by Goldar before flying over to Rocky. Instinctively, he opened his palm and his morpher and communicator were dropped into his hand. "Yes!" He cheered, quickly strapping the small watch to his wrist.

"Great, get us out of here," Jason said as he quickly moved over to Rocky's side. Rocky nodded and knelt next to Melody, brushing his fingers against her arm. She had suddenly remained still after screaming and crying for a few minutes. Her skin was tinged with the slightest bit of coldness but he could feel it. Anger suddenly swirled in the pit of his stomach. Jason put a hand on Rocky's shoulder. "You have to keep your head on straight. Control the anger and direct it towards the monster." Rocky stayed silent but nodded, making sure he was touching Melody's arm before transporting them back to the Command Center.

"Rocky! Thank goodness you're ok!" Alpha greeted him as the two Reds landed back in the Command Center.

"Alpha, can you help her? Can you heal her or something? Please," Rocky begged, immediately turning his attention to Melody.

"Rocky, you're bleeding."

"I don't care, Alpha! Help her!"

"Rocky, the others need you, you better hurry," Zack told him.

"We'll look after her and make sure she's ok. Go," Trini said firmly. Rocky nodded and teleported out of the Command Center. "Guys, move her over to the table," she ordered Zack and Jason, who nodded, carefully picked up Melody and carried her over. Trini let out a little whistle. "Rita and Zedd knew what they were doing with that monster. Can we help her, Alpha?"

"Her wounds are major," Alpha said sadly. "Zordon and I will do our best but we can't promise you anything."

"We understand."

* * *

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Rocky called as the Tyrannosaurus Zord came in and whipped its tail at the Voodoo Monster, effectively knocking it off balance. "What'd I miss?"

"You came just in time, Rocko. Let's bring these things together and get rid of this monster once and for all," Tommy said happily.

"Right," the others agreed. "We need Megazord Power, now!"

The Power Rangers brought their Zords together and Tommy waited for them all to be together in the cockpit of the machine before addressing them. "Think, guys. A hair is hidden somewhere inside that monster. I don't know about you guys but I don't want to spend time trying to destroy every little piece of that monster to find it. Any ideas on how to defeat a Voodoo Doll?"

"Legends say that you have to hang up Voodoo Dolls on a sacred tree. The souls of the demon and the Voodoo Dolls themselves get destroyed by the sunlight," Billy replied.

"But the sun's starting to set," Aisha sighed.

"No, but we _do_ have cannons. I have an idea." Billy quickly told the others of his idea and they agreed that it was the only shot that they had left. They powered the Megazord forward and started it in hand-to-hand combat with the Voodoo Monster.

"Give up, Power Rangers. The Earth is ours!" the Voodoo Monster taunted.

"Not today, it's not," Rocky grunted, pushing forward levers in his Red Dragon Thunderzord Warrior Mode. The Zord's fist shot out and punched at the large clock in its center. Sparks went flying as the Voodoo Monster stumbled backwards, holding onto his stomach at the exposed pendulum. "That's it! That's where the DNA link is!"

"Oh no!" The Voodoo Monster gasped, covering his pendulum. "I've been exposed!"

"Ok, time to divide and conquer," Adam said before hitting a red button. The Mega TIgerzord split into the Thunder Megazord and the White Tiger Megazord Warrior mode.

"White Tiger Thunderbolt, armed and ready!" Tommy called.

"Thunder Saber, Battle Ready," the rest of them chorused.

"Ready? Fire!"

The Tigerzord fired off its thunderbolt the same time the Thunder Megazord slashed the sword across the pendulum, causing a large explosion. The Voodoo Monster screamed in agony as it seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion before exploding in a ball of fire and a shower of sparks.

"All right! Now to get back to the Command Center," Kim sighed.

* * *

"How is she, Alpha?" Zack asked, watching as the little robot pushed more buttons on the control panel.

"We've done all we could, Zack. All we have to do is…hope she wakes up," Alpha replied, lowering his head slightly.

"The important thing is that you did the best you could considering the circumstances," Zordon told them.

"I just wish we could've done something more, Zordon," Jason said as he shook his head. "Something. Anything."

Just then the Command Center was filled with light as the other Rangers teleported back into the Command Center. "Rangers, congratulations on defeating the monster," Zordon said to them.

"Thanks Zordon, it wasn't easy," Tommy told him.

"Yeah, I'm so glad Billy likes to read as much as he does," Aisha said as she gently nudged the genius who blushed and adjusted his glasses.

"How's Mellie?" Rocky asked, rushing over to where the others were standing.

Jason sighed. "We did everything we could. Everything else is left up to her whether she wakes up or not."

Rocky's heart fell.

* * *

**I'm so sorry for not getting this chapter up sooner (or other chapters for my other MMPR fics). I was busy the rest of the summer and I had computer troubles but now everything's fixed and I'm back. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please read and review!**

**~Crystal**


	17. Chasing Owls Part I

**Chapter 16: **

_**Chasing Owls Part I**_

**

* * *

**

"He's been there for hours," Kim commented, motioning in the direction of the red ranger. As soon as they heard the news about Melody he's been planted by her side, staring off into space, holding onto her hand. Nothing would get him to move from his spot, not even offering to pay for him at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Kim and the others had left for about a half hour, stating that Rocky needed to be by himself, but now it was getting late and they all had to get home but they knew Rocky wouldn't budge. "We have to do something."

"He's upset, clearly. We can't make him move," Aisha replied.

"We have to go home soon or else our parents will worry. Rocky can't stay the entire night, can he?" Kim questioned. "I mean, the floor's not that comfortable and it gets cold in here." She sighed and looked at Rocky again. "Look at him, he hasn't gotten any sleep and he must be exhausted after the fight. I know I am."

"He's not going to want to leave, I know that for sure," Aisha said as she rubbed her chin. "I mean, if that had happened to you or him or Adam I wouldn't want to leave either. I think we should just let him stay here. We can cover for them, Adam'll tell Mrs. DeSantos that he's staying at Adam's place and I'll tell Mr. Williams that she's sleeping over that way they don't expect them home."

"I guess that's the best we can do," Kim said as she pushed her hair out of her face. She let out another breath and looked over at the forlorn Red. He didn't move at all and he continued staring at the one spot on the wall, his thumb was the only thing that moved as he rubbed it over the back of Melody's still hand.

"Hey Rocko," Tommy said softly, putting a hand on Rocky's shoulder. Rocky didn't move, didn't acknowledge Tommy at all. "She's going to be all right, man."

"How do you know?" Rocky asked, his voice raspy. "You heard what Jason said, she might now wake up."

"She will."

"How do you know?"

"She managed to go through the torture that Rita set on her. We don't even know what it was but knowing Rita it was bad. She survived that, she'll survive this."

Rocky didn't respond but let out a slow breath through his nose.

"We're going to cover for you, so you can stay," Aisha told Rocky.

"Thanks," Rocky mumbled.

Sighing, Aisha walked over to the others. Adam put a hand on her shoulder and gave her his best smile. She instantly relaxed and smiled in return, turning her attention to teleporting herself out of the Command Center.

Rocky merely blinked at the bright light. He knew he should have gone home with the rest of them but he couldn't tear himself from Melody's side. It was basically his fault, he decided that a few hours ago. If he had just told her he was a Power Ranger in the first place she would be in this mess, she wouldn't be fighting for her life.

He sighed. He knew he couldn't have told her. They had to follow a sort of rules to be a Power Ranger; he had a certain duty to not only Zordon and Alpha, but to the world as well. But didn't he have a duty of being her friend too? He always promised that, if he ever saw her again, he'd tell her everything, and look where that left him? Angry at her for not telling him about the letters, hurt that she didn't trust him, and now torn because he had to see his best friend lying there and he couldn't do anything about it.

Rocky let out a growl of anger before standing up so quickly the stool that he was sitting on crashed to the ground. He should've known that Melody was being attacked for a reason. He should've known that Rita would try to put their friend against them, it was the perfect plan! Why didn't he think that it could ever happen?

Because Rita and Zedd weren't the brightest villains of the bunch. He was surprised that they haven't caught on that they could attack at school; they've only attacked the Rangers while they were at the park. What made them suddenly so smart?

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi, Rocky, please calm down!" Alpha begged, shuffling over to the angry Red.

"Alpha, I'm the reason she's like this!" Rocky said to the robot. "I'm the reason she's hurt. I didn't protect her, I should have. And now…now she knows we're Rangers and she could be really hurt because of me. All of this is my fault."

"You can't blame yourself for Rita's and Zedd's doing, Rocky," Zordon boomed.

Rocky crossed his arms over his chest. "There has to be something I can do." He dropped his arms and clenched his hands into fists. "I just want to…go over to their palace and defeat them myself!" he hissed.

"You know that it wouldn't help things, Rocky," Zordon advised him.

"I know, I know. Still, I have to do something. I can't just sit around here."

All of a sudden a machine started beeping and blinking lights. Alpha raced over to it and Rocky watched as the robot pulled out a slip of paper that seemed to have child-like scribbles all over it. The light sensors in Alpha's head were moving as if he were scanning the paper like a normal person.

"What's wrong, Alpha?" Zordon asked.

"These readings show Melody's brain activity," Alpha replied. "Before they showed that she was in a coma—brain activity is different in a person in a coma than when a person is sleeping—but now these readings are showing that she's sleeping."

"That's great! So we can wake her up," Rocky said, moving to where his friend was.

"It might not be that simple," Alpha stopped him.

Rocky frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's not in a coma, that's correct, but she won't wake up easily. There is something going on inside her judging by these wavelengths." Alpha turned the paper to Rocky. His eyes darted across the paper but he couldn't understand anything. Frustrated, he crushed the paper in his fist.

"Is there any way you can see what's going on inside of her? Her head, maybe? Can we use the Viewing Globe?"

"I can try."

Rocky turned to look at the Viewing Globe, biting his lip at the snowy static that came through as Alpha pushed buttons. Suddenly the haze went away and they were able to see clearly. On screen the image was slightly distorted but it was clear enough that they could see who was walking.

"Goldar!" Rocky cried out. "Wait, Zordon, I don't understand."

"It seems that while young Melody had passed out they somehow took her soul to a difference dimension."

"Wait, so her body's just an empty shell?"

"Not exactly. Melody is still here, but inside her it is as if she—as a whole—is in a different dimension. Rita and Zedd wanted to make it a challenge for you to get her back."

Anger flared up in Rocky's stomach again. "How can I get her back?"

"That's not a task that you must take on your own," Zordon advised.

"Zordon, I all ready told you I'm not going to sit around here and do nothing. I'm not going to let anything happen to Mellie, not again." Rocky shook his head and looked down at the ground, biting his lip angrily.

"Rocky, you should think through this. We don't even know what dimension it is, we don't even know if your powers will work!" Alpha tried to reason with him.

"I don't care!" Rocky snapped. "Don't you get it? I don't care what could happen to me as long as Mellie gets back. I lost her once and I'm not going to do it again." Then he paused and added a bit begrudgingly, "What if I can't get back?"

"If I am not mistaken there was an energy source that helped you get your communicator back while you were at Rita's and Zedd's palace," Zordon started. Rocky nodded. "That was the power of the Sacred Owl, a power that was believed to be hidden thousands of years ago. I believe, someone, the power was taken to the dimension with her and it should be able to give you enough power to get back, if you find it."

"And if I don't I'm stuck there," Rocky summed up. He sighed and shrugged. "Can't be as bad as being stuck at Aunt Ruthie's." He backed away from the robot, letting out slow breaths to calm his sudden racing heart. "Ok, Alpha, I'm ready."

"Good luck, Rocky," Alpha said as he pushed buttons on a machine and then turned to Rocky. The Red gave him a bright smile before he was engulfed in a bright white light and was teleported out of the Command Center.

* * *

**A lot of part ones and part twos, aren't there?**

**Ok, I really, really, really, _really,_ apologize for the long wait. I lost inspiration and then I got it back and then my computer messed up and...I could go on and on with what you could think are excuses but they're not. Anyway, I hope I still have some readers around.**

**Please read and review!**


	18. Interlude

**Chapter 17: **

_**Interlude**_

* * *

Aisha lowered the book she was reading when her phone rang. Pausing to let out a yawn, she reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" She greeted the other person on the line.

"Hey, 'Sha. I didn't think you'd still be awake," Adam's voice filtered in on the line.

"I was just reading," Aisha replied, motioning to her book despite the fact that Adam couldn't see it. "I couldn't really get to sleep, after what happened today."

"I know, I couldn't get to sleep either." A long pause stretched on the line. "Do you think she'll wake up?" He finally asked, voicing their fears.

"She has to," Aisha replied. "I don't…I don't know how Rocky will take it if she doesn't. Remember when his grandmother died?" She bit her lip at the thought. He had been a wreck when she died. Their family was so close he acted as if he had lost his own arm. He lashed out at everyone that got near him, including Adam and Aisha. He didn't go to his martial arts practices; he stayed in his room and only left whenever he had to go to school. It took him weeks to move on from her death and even now he wasn't fully the same as he was before. "I mean…they seem really close. If they're in any way as close as they were to his grandmother then…"

"I know what you mean," Adam sighed. "I tried reaching his communicator but I only got back static."

"Do you think he took it off?" Aisha asked.

"No way. Rocky never takes it off, he knows not to."

Aisha could hear the worry in his voice. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure he's fine. He's probably just…going for a jog to tire himself out, that's all. Knowing him, he's not getting much sleep. I wouldn't either if it were any of you guys in that condition."

"Me too," Adam agreed. "It just…makes me wonder."

"About what?"

"Do you think Rocky's going to tell her?"

Aisha didn't have to ask him to elaborate. She knew what he meant: their Ranger secret. Every since Melody arrived at Angel Grove she did seem to be the target of Rita and Zedd. She wasn't dumb, Aisha would bet that Melody had pieced together that they were the rangers if she didn't piece it together after waking up. It'd only be a matter of time until everything came together.

"Do _you_ think he'd risk his powers?" Aisha replied. "He loves the idea of using his skills to help the world. Do you think he'd give it up?"

"To make sure that his friends and family are safe? Yes, I do," Adam admitted

"Me too," Aisha sighed. "It's a very Rocky-like thing to do." She sighed. "I just hope…he doesn't give everything up for her."

Adam gave a small laugh. "You're a little more worried than usual."

Aisha frowned. "What're you implying?"

"Nothing," Adam laughed again. "What did you mean by that?"

"I mean, can we really trust her?"

"Rocky does."

"Rocky's the same person who convinced him into walking across a lake of thin ice when we visited my relatives on Colorado, remember?"

"That was years ago and she hasn't given us a reason not to trust her," Adam pointed out. "The only thing we can do is trust and support Rocky's judgment." He paused. "Is there another reason why you're so worried about him telling her?"

The question in his voice instantly grinded on Aisha's nerves. "Go to sleep, Adam," she growled.

Adam laughed and hung up the phone.


End file.
